Disappear
by MemberOfDumbledoresArmy
Summary: Rose and Scorpius know that the only way for them is to disappear from the wizard world. Can they manage to stay hidden? What dire consequences face them if they fail? Full summary inside.
1. Runaways

**A/N: Quite honestly I probably should not be starting another fanfiction story at all, let alone another Rose/Scorpius fanfiction because I already have two of them going (The Dragon Club 2 and I Chose you). Not to mention my other fanfics that I am currently working on (The Time Spiral, Mudbloods For Sale and The Problems With Being a Muggle). HOWEVER, at times when I try to work on one of those aforementioned fanfics, I find myself typing this one. **

**Full Summary: **_**Rose and Scorpius harbored a secret friendship and relationship for years. At the end of their seventh year at Hogwarts Rose discovered she was pregnant. Knowing their families would disapprove and do all they could to keep the two apart, Rose and Scorpius ran away together and hid in the muggle world. Five years later their secrets are slowly unraveling.**_

**I plan for the first two (possibly three) chapters to be a bit of a backstory and then it will jump to "five years later." I'm not sure how often I will be able to update this story. I have a lot of bits and pieces of it already written, but I need to fill in the missing parts. I do not plan for this to be a very long story so I can focus more on the other ones I have going. **

**Another quick note: I have not read any Rose/Scorpius stories like this one. Please let me know if there is already one out there because I would not want any author(s) to think I am copying their work/ideas. This is my first T rated story although that rating might change in future chapters. It's rated T mostly for language. **

**PLEASE let me know if you like where this story is going and want me to continue it. **

**Looking forward to hearing your feedback,**

**MofDA**

…**..**

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy could not remember a time when he didn't love Rose Weasley. They'd met long before Hogwarts. It had been chance; a random day when her father had been unexpectedly called into work at the Auror office while watching Rose and her brother. He'd had to bring them with him to the Ministry and leave them at the day care the Ministry provided.

Scorpius himself almost always went to work with his father. Both of his parents worked, even though neither of them had to with the Malfoy fortune to live off of. His mother worked at St. Mungo's and the hospital did not provide a day care for working parents. Of course this didn't perturb the young Malfoy. From the age of three he had most Ministry officials wrapped around his adorable little fingers.

They were four years old when they were put into the day care together for the very first time. He could vividly remember the first time he laid eyes on her. For a moment he thought, in the way toddlers do, that perhaps some careless worker had put a wild cat into the room because all he saw was fiery orange hair. Then she turned to face him.

She had a delicate heart-shaped face, big blue eyes, and was sporting a rather ugly frown. "What's wrong?" he had asked.

Rose had ignored him in the shy way children sometimes ignore each other. Backing into a corner by the playhouse and hiding behind it. After it became quite clear to her that the boy was not going to leave, she'd peeked out and snapped quickly, "Who're you?"

"Scor," he said, as that was all of his name he could pronounce properly at the time.

She giggled, hiding her face again, "I'm Rose," he heard her soft voice say. That was all it took for him to know to that one day, he was going to marry that girl.

...

Over the next seven years their friendship grew drastically. After that first encounter, Rose had begged to go to work with her father. Then, when her father had retired from the Auror Office and began working at the joke shop with his brother, she'd begged to go to work with her mother.

Going to work with her mother was often unpleasant because Hermione Weasley worked longer hours than her husband and Rose didn't like being stuck there if Scorpius wasn't there that particular day.

For the first year she had told her parents about her friend, 'Scor,' they misunderstood her toddler-talk accent and thought she was speaking of Scarlett Thomas, a girl her age who was at the day care every day with her father. Perhaps, Rose assumed, 'Scor' sounded like 'Scar' to the silly mind of an adult.

However, she did not correct them. When, at the age of six, she'd learned Scorpius's surname and the fact that her family was meant to dislike his, she even encouraged her parent's misconception. She would say things like, "Then Scarlett and I went to the Fountain of Magical Brethren and poured in three galleons!"

"Rose," her mother would scold, "you know you're not supposed to leave the day care and wander about the Ministry! Merlin only knows how you manage to sneak out of that place so often! You must get it from your father's side of the family."

"Three galleons!" her father would exclaim, "Bloody hell! When I was your age, I'd never even _seen _a galleon, let alone had three of them to just throw away!"

"Oh, Daddy," she had giggled, "it's not throwing them away. They use the money from the fountain to be donated to St. Mungo's hospital. So I'm helping those poor sick people."

"That's my girl," he'd reply proudly. Then they would get ice cream.

...

Hogwarts. The day they had both dreamed of. They'd boarded the train separately, and met in private for many years. Volumes of books could be written about the escapades those two had at night throughout the castle.

Adventures in hidden corridors, Charms practice in forgotten classrooms, swimming in the Black Lake, and so much more. It wasn't until the beginning of Sixth Year that the nature of their relationship changed abruptly from 'best friends' to 'best friends who were desperately in love.'

"Check...mate," said Rose with a smirk as she jumped to her feet for a quick victory dance.

"I don't understand why you always get so bloody excited about winning," grumbled Scorpius as he swiped the pieces off of the board and into a waiting box. "You win every time."

"That's not the point though, is it? The point is that I beat you at chess! Again! What's wrong?" she teased as she caught him staring at her with his mouth agape. "Bloody hell, did I put my skirt on inside out again this morning? I overslept because we were out late together last night."

"No," he coughed, "your skirt is fine."

"Then what were you staring at?" she inquired as she continued to search her skirt for a rip or a stain.

"Kiss me."

Rose blanched, "What?"

"Just...kiss me," he was on his feet coming toward her. He stopped less than a foot in front of her and Rose knew why. He wouldn't come onto her if his advances were unwanted; he wasn't that sort. She would have to make the first move.

So she did. It was such an ordinary moment for such an extraordinary thing to happen. Neither had ever experienced anything like it in their short sixteen years of life. Stars exploded behind her eyes as his tongue explored her mouth and he groaned, attacking her lips like he'd die if he stopped kissing her.

Their first kiss grew almost immediately into their first time making love and the next morning, upon waking, they agreed that they were officially a couple. Of course nobody knew about them.

Scorpius Malfoy had bad reputations no matter who you asked. And each one of them was wrong. If you asked Slytherins, they would tell you he was a blood traitor who didn't have proper pride. If you asked a Gryffindor they would tell you he was a Dark Magic user who wished Voldemort was still alive so he could become a Death Eater. If you asked his parents they would say he was a perfect little angel who did no wrong.

The only person in the entire world who had the correct opinion of him was Rose. Rose had undeserved reputations of her own as well. Almost everyone believed that she was perfect. She was a saint and a genius. Scorpius, of course, knew she had flaws. He knew she had limitations. They were the only two people in the world who were able to look past parentage and gossip and see the truth in each other.

It was natural, then, for them to fall in love as they had. They had tried often to convince their families that the other was a good person. Scorpius's father had said, "Rose Weasley?" with a snort, "a decent witch, you say? There's no such thing as a decent Weasley, Scorpius, and you would do well to remember that. The lot of them are greedy, dirty, uncivilized people whose blood has been tainted with the blood of muggles."

Astoria Malfoy was quick to agree with her husband, "Your father is correct. We all know that muggles are barely above animals, Scorpius. And Weasley's _breed_ with them."

...

"Scorpius Malfoy?" Ron had boomed with laughter, "Now, Rosie-kins, if you think that he's a an alright bloke, then he's fooled you. Don't think I'm prejudiced just because of his name, either. Well, sure, Malfoys are all inherently evil. The inbreeding in that family has caused all of them to lose some humanity. But I've heard things about Scorpius from your other cousins. He's a Slytherin. In all my years I've only ever met one Slytherin who didn't turn Dark Side. One! And even he had issues!" He had been speaking of Severus Snape and Rose knew this.

Rose had hoped that of all people, her kind and logical mother would have a different viewpoint. But as it turned out, this was one of the few things that Hermione and Ron Weasley had the same conclusion of. "I knew his father in school. I knew his grandfather, too, to some extent. I'm not saying that Scorpius is his father, I'm just saying that people tend to end up being the type of parents that their parents were. Scorpius may _seem _okay to you, dear, but I promise you that Draco will have done something to screw him up."

...

"We'll need to try again," Scorpius said vehemently as he held Rose's hand. They were sitting in the very top of the Astronomy Tower, dangling their legs over the ledge. Rose was in tears and Scorpius was doing his best to comfort her.

They had just completed their NEWTs the day before and again Rose found herself feeling so bloody thankful that she had gotten those exams over with before today. Because today was the day she found out that she was pregnant. Scorpius Malfoy's child was growing inside of her.

Her first reaction, upon seeing the potion glow positive, had not been to panic or scream or cry. She had smiled. Love filled her so quickly and completely that it left her dizzy in it's wake. She loved that little child more than she loved anything or anyone in her life. More, even, than her love for Scorpius.

After the dust had settled and her brain caught up with everything, then she had panicked and sought Scorpius immediately. They were speaking now of their parents. "We're graduating tomorrow," Scorpius said this with encouragement, "We're both of age. They can't stop us from being together."

...

After graduation and the party and feast with her family, Rose found herself, finally, mercifully, at home with nobody but her parents as Hugo was spending the night at the Potter's house. "I forgot how beautiful Hogwarts was," said Hermione wistfully as she pulled off her high-heeled shoes, "It's been ages since we've been there."

Ron looked like he was feeling a bit nostalgic himself when he said, "Yeah, do you remember Fluffy? And the Death Day Party? Blimey, we were so young."

"Mum? Dad?" Rose entered the kitchen timidly.

"Yes, Dear?" Hermione was beaming at her daughter with love and pride.

"I have a question for both of you. It's a very important question and I hope, very much, that you will both be open-minded and hear me out."

"Of course," said Ron whose face was now serious and a touch severe.

"I don't know any other way to say this than to just say it. I'm in love. I am very, very in love and I desperately seek your approval."

Ron's face turned green. Hermione's smile broadened, "Who is he?"

"Well, er, you see, that's the thing..."

"Merlin's balls," Ron stammered, "it's not a 'she' is it? Blimey I hope not, I was really looking forward to having grandkids some day."

"No! Oh, Dad, no, it's not a girl! He's very much a man, I assure you."

"Then what's the problem?"

"It's Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a sharp look before Hermione darted off to the drawing room. "Where is it?" she yelled to her husband.

"In the top desk drawer! Behind the spare bits of parchment and my old Chuddley Cannons hat!" Ron screamed back.

"What's going on?" Rose snapped.

"I've got it!" Hermione held the vial of potion above her head triumphantly. "Now, Rose, this is going to taste right foul, but I promise you'll be alright."

"I don't...understand."

"Of course you don't, Sweetheart," said Ron soothingly, "but it's obvious that Malfoy has somehow managed to slip you a love potion. Perhaps as a practical joke, but it's best if you just take the antidote without a fuss..."

"I'M NOT UNDER THE EFFECTS OF A LOVE POTION!" her voice echoed off of the kitchen walls, "and why on earth do you have antidotes to love potions on hand?"

"I had a bad run-in with one years ago, not important at the moment," bristled Ron, "as much as you don't want to believe it, Malfoy has put you under the influence of some sort of potion or spell..."

"No," Rose objected, "he has not. We've been dating for almost two years now and we've been friends for so much longer. I know that if you just gave him a chance you'd both really like him!"

"Oh...oh, Rosie, no..." Hermione's mind went immediately to the brief conversations they'd had of Scorpius Malfoy in the past. Why hadn't she noticed it sooner? All of the times Rose had stuck up for the boy or even purposefully brought him up into conversation. This had been a long time coming.

"You can't," said Ron, who now was sporting a bit of a deranged look, "I can't imagine the sort of daughter I raised if you fell in love with a Ma...er...someone like Scorpius!"

"You were going to say 'Malfoy,' weren't you?" Rose spat at him, "because despite however much you say otherwise, deep down you're holding a grudge against his father! Scorpius did not inherit his father's sins!"

"Rose," her mother was speaking calmly, as she usually did, "I hold nothing against Draco. I even testified in his favor at his hearing after the Second Wizard War. Yet even I agree with your father on his. He's no good for you. Loving him, dating him, will only bring you pain and misery."

"Well," said Rose curtly, "I expected you two might have these ideas, so I have a plan. We will all just go about business as usual. You can pretend that you don't know Scorpius or his parents or even his surname. I can bring him home, introduce him as my new boyfriend, and you can get to know him."

Both of her parents were shaking their heads, "That won't work," said Hermione, "I've already told you that I hold nothing against him as a person. His family will never accept you. They will shun him and you as well. He will be miserable because of it, which will cause you to be miserable. Even if his family miraculously was okay with this, we still wouldn't be because Scorpius was raised in a certain way. To hate people like me, like you, like your father..."

"You were raised by muggles!" Rose squeaked, "does that make you a muggle?"

"No," said Hermione with bewilderment; what was Rose's point?

"If I had been raised by werewolves, would that make me a werewolf?"

"No," said her father, cottoning on, "but when you're raised to have certain values-"

"I was raised to hate him!" she screamed at the top of her voice, "From the day I was born I was raised to despise all things connected to Death Eaters and the Dark Side! To hate Scorpius! Yet I love him. With every fiber of my being I love him! Why do you assume he could not have escaped his upbringing untainted as I have?"

Hermione let out a low hiss of anger. Rose had basically just said that her parents harbored tainted views and had tried to instill them in her. "Is there no way," asked Rose in desperation, "that you would ever accept this?"

"No," both of her parents chorused.

"No matter what?" instinctively her hands fluttered to her stomach. The question in her mind resounding, '_even if I have his child?' _but she did not speak those words aloud.

"No matter what," said Ron firmly, "if I have to pull out my wand right now and _Obliviate _him from your mind, I will."

She gazed back and forth between the two of them. Obviously they were confident that she would choose them. They didn't know how wrong they were.

...

The owl was familiar to him even if the messy scrawl was not her usual hand. Normally all of her words, each individual letter, was penned with consideration and care. But this tattered parchment was dotted with teardrops and he knew she had been shaking uncontrollably when she wrote it.

_Scorpius,_

_I talked to my parents today and it went very badly. We will have to initiate plan B or plan C depending on how your talk goes with your parents. I will start packing as soon as I finish this letter. I eagerly await your owl._

_Yours Forever,_

_Rose_

He crumpled it in his fist and chucked it into the fireplace, causing sparks to shoot up and fly out as he scowled at the flames. Now it was his turn. He was certain that no matter how awful her parents had taken the news, his would be a thousand times worse.

His grandparents both still lived in the mansion as well. Sometimes Scorpius wondered if his dad would have been a better man if Lucius and Narcissa had been imprisoned for their crimes after the War. But because they had walked free their influence over their son had remained intact.

"I need to speak with you," Scorpius had started as he entered the sitting room. Draco was in his favorite armchair by the fire reading the newspaper and Astoria was standing by an end table arranging flowers in a vase.

"Yes?" His father inquired politely.

"I know how you have both been pressuring me to find someone," he began, "a girl to become betrothed to. I know you've both been angry with me for turning away every bird you introduce me to; Gabrielle Zabini, Carrie Goyle, even Daisy Nott. But I have, at long last, found someone."

His parents smiled happily at him and his mother moved to sit down on the sofa beside Scorpius. "What is her name? Is she French? You know how I adore the refined culture of the French!" she ensued.

"She's English," said Scorpius shortly, "and her name is Rose."

"Rose?" Draco wrinkled his forehead, "I don't recall that name. Is she perhaps a Selwyn? Or a Burke?"

"She's a Weasley," Scorpius said this firmly, determinedly, "although not for long. Soon I hope to make her a Malfoy."

A very pregnant pause followed this announcement. Draco Malfoy paled considerably and when he found his voice, it was calm, "I forbid it."

"You cannot stop it," said Scorpius serenely. He'd long ago accepted the fact that he would be disowned by his family because of her. That angst had subsided years ago.

"Do you want to bet?" Lucius Malfoy had been listening at the door. "If you attempt to go through with this, Scorpius, then I shall have your young bride, ah...taken care of," the words were gentle but the meaning was deadly.

"You wouldn't dare," snarled Scorpius, advancing on the elder wizard. His mother grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"I was once one of the highest ranking Death Eaters under the Dark Lord's command," said Lucius loftily. For this was how Lord Voldemort was spoken of in their home; not with disgust but with reverence. "Do you think, idiot boy, that I have not killed before? That I have not tortured and murdered innocent muggles? Though I hesitate to classify it as murder as they are so close to being nothing more than a common beast."

"Father," Scorpius pleaded, "Mother. Will you two not side with me?"

"Scorpius," said Draco gravely, " I will do nothing to help you and your..._bitch_," he said the word with malice, knowing it was the term for a female dog, "if it were up to me I would simply disinherit you. Cut you off completely from the family and the finances. But if my father has her killed, I will not lift a finger to stop it."

His mother nodded her head firmly in agreement. "Then, I shall not marry her," said Scorpius swiftly, "I will find someone else. Someone _worthy_."

...

Plan C it was. Scorpius was throwing all of his worldly possessions into a knapsack at a lightning quick speed. His clever fiancé had enchanted it with a charm to make it much bigger on the inside. He'd replied to her owl with an untidy scrawl of _'Plan C. Midnight.'_

As far as his family knew, he had changed his mind. That thought almost made him laugh. His broomstick, the best one currently on the market, was waiting for him beside the open window. With one last look around his bedroom, he jumped onto the broomstick and took off toward the moon.

...

Her bedroom window was open for him when he came swooping in. She was waiting, sitting patiently on the end of her bed with her unruly hair tied back, a traveling cloak over her slim frame, and her hands interlaced in her lap.

"Are you alright, love? You look a bit pale," he whispered as he kissed her lips.

Rose gave him a very weak smile, "Fine, just a bit sick."

"Sick?" he looked alarmed.

She waved off his worry, "Morning sickness."

"At night?"

"For the love of Merlin, Scorpius, if you keep fretting over me like this I might just back out of this arrangement," she teased, "it's perfectly normal, Sweetheart, don't worry so much."

"Alright, are all of your things packed? Shall we be off?"

"Yes, here we are," she hoisted her own knapsack onto her back and clambered onto the broomstick behind him, wrapping her arms securely around his middle. "I love you," she whispered into his ear.

"As I love you."

Together they disappeared into the dark gray clouds of the night.


	2. Run and Don't Look Back

**A/N: Here's the second chapter, which I hope everyone likes just as much as the first one! After this, it's going to jump to 'five years later' so be prepared for that! I really love hearing your feedback; criticism is just as welcome as compliments! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

…

Rose Weasley was pounding hard on the front door of a small house in a muggle neighborhood. The man living inside was an older wizard who Rose knew, although not very well.

It was one o'clock in the morning but Rose knew this couldn't wait. It was too important and they had too much at stake to make even a single mistake.

"Can I help you?" the door opened just a crack and Rose could see a small sliver of Mr. Perkin's face.

She cleared her throat and Scorpius gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Yes. Mr. Perkins, I am Rose Weasley and I desperately need your help."

"Merlin's beard! Why didn't you say so? Come in, child, come in!" He hurriedly pulled open the door and ushered the two teenagers into his tiny sitting room.

Mr. Perkins had worked with her grandfather in the office of muggle relations for years before changing positions within the Ministry to the position he now held.

"Mr. Perkins I am going to cut straight to the point. This is Scorpius Malfoy. We need to be married right away and we need for it to be kept secret from everyone. Especially our families."

The older man paled considerably at this. "What's the haste? You two look awfully young and…" he trailed off with the looks he was receiving from the couple.

"You heard our surnames, Mr. Perkins," said Scorpius patiently. "Our parents don't want us to be together but we are very much in love. We need to be wed before they realize that we're missing."

"To cross not only the Weasley family but the Malfoys as well…"

"We're willing to pay you for your assistance and your silence," said Scorpius.

"That's not the only issue," snapped Mr. Perkins. "If I were to perform a wizard wedding ceremony it would require the proper rings and papers…"

"Which we have," said Rose who was always very organized. Quickly she extracted the wedding bands they'd previously purchased and the proper licensing papers from her knapsack. They had been prepared for any outcome of events.

"Well, I…I'm not sure I should do this."

"Mr. Perkins," said Rose in an angry bossy tone that had Scorpius hiding a smirk behind his hand. "We are two legal consenting adults. As Scorpius has already said, he and I love each other very much but our parents refuse to let us be together. Please have a heart. Please help us."

Scorpius knew the battle was won. Nobody could say 'no' to Rose when she turned those big beautiful blue eyes on them. "I am going against my better judgment here, Miss Weasley, but yes…Merlin help me, I'll marry you."

It was a very short ceremony. Rose and Scorpius said their vows right there in Mr. Perkin's sitting room. He made sure all of the proper magical marriage bonds were placed on them and that their wedding bands had the right magical enchantments in them as well.

Rose and Scorpius were signing the marriage papers when Mr. Perkins said uneasily, "Erm, you do realize that this license will be filed in the Ministry office. If your parents go looking for it, it will be there."

"Wait a while before you file it," said Scorpius who knew just a bit more about the inner Ministry workings than Rose. "Hold onto this license at your house for a few years, just in case. It's still legal and binding. If we ever need it for any legal reasons, we'll know it's safely with you."

"And if something were to happen to me?" he asked gruffly.

"Then make sure it goes to the Ministry if that were to happen."

"I must be crazy to do this," he said more to himself than them. "This is going to cost you a hefty amount of gold, mind."

"We expected that," said Scorpius as he pulled money from his knapsack. "How much exactly?"

While the men talked price Rose admired her ring. Mr. Perkins had briefly explained that these bands tied Scorpius and Rose together magically. Divorce in the wizard world _was_ possible, just exceptionally rare and difficult.

Taking these bonds was as serious as an Unbreakable Vow in many ways. The delicate silver band with the enormous marquise shaped diamond on top with the additional rubies and emeralds surrounding it that was now encircling Rose's finger could not be removed unless her husband died.

"I hope you two are very happy together," said the obviously shaken wizard as he ushered them toward the door. They had been pleasantly surprised that no witnesses were required to testify that the wedding had taken place because the magical bonds were witness enough. So it was just the three of them who knew this secret.

"Thank you," Rose hugged him, kissed his cheek, and again she and Scorpius took flight.

Their second stop was going to be just a bit trickier. Gringotts bank had goblins working 24/7. However, the bank was not, strictly speaking, open for another six hours.

"We are currently _closed_," said a goblin rather rudely when Rose and Scorpius entered the atrium. They both had their own bank accounts here with hefty amounts of gold. They each had parents and other relatives who regularly added money to their accounts and together they had a nice little fortune.

The only problem was that they might not be able to access it. Rose was hoping that claiming to have permission to be here would suffice. Just in case, however, she was fully prepared to play the 'my entire family are war heroes' card.

"There was a family emergency," Rose invented wildly. "Scorpius Malfoy and I are here to enter our vaults because we need the money tonight."

The goblin, knowing that Rose was a Weasley, eyed them suspiciously. "And do you and Mr. Malfoy have your keys?"

"Of course! We also have express permission from Bill Weasley," Rose was bluffing her way through this while Scorpius just went along for the ride.

Again the goblin looked like he wanted to argue, but in the end he wasn't willing to risk the wrath of the wizarding community by failing to aid the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley.

"Very well, this way," the three of them clambered into a cart and took off. When the cart stopped at her vault, Rose immediately leaned over the side of the cart and vomited. Scorpius rubbed her back soothingly, not knowing what else to do.

"Vault number 452," said the goblin as he took the lantern and held it up to the door with Rose's key in his hand. For a moment he paused. "Something has changed. This vault does not belong to Rose Weasley. Your money has been transferred to the vault of Scorpius Malfoy."

Rose blanched. Had the magical bonds performed during their wedding ceremony done this? Apparently it had because the goblin was looking at them now with dawning comprehension.

With pursed lips he jumped back into the cart and it sped off again. "Vault number 878," he announced. Scorpius handed over his key and when the goblin pulled open the vault door, it was obvious that their gold had indeed been combined magically by the bank.

"We're taking all of it," said Scorpius and began sweeping the money into his bottomless bag.

"How did this happen?" Rose asked.

"When a marriage takes place the bank recognizes the magical bonds and adjusts accordingly. According to wizard laws, your possessions and your husband's possessions belong to each other equally. Tradition dictates that it is the wife's vault's contents that transfer to the wizard's account. This is no longer Scorpius Malfoy's vault, but rather, the Malfoy's vault. Yours and his."

Rose didn't trust this goblin. She knew that the only reason he had allowed them to enter their vaults after hours was because of her name and stature in wizarding society. Would he tell their parents that they had been there?

She would worry about that later. When they had secured all of the gold they had and exchanged most of it for muggle currency, they left.

"Well, where would you like to spend your honeymoon, Mrs. Malfoy?" asked Scorpius in what he hoped was a cheerful voice.

"With you," she replied instantly.

Smiling, Scorpius escorted her down Diagon Alley toward the Leaky Cauldron; from there, they could use the floo network to reach his intended destination.

….

Ronald Weasley woke up unusually restless the next morning. He reckoned he was still upset about the conversation he'd had with Rose. Hermione was up also, earlier than normal for both of them.

"Do you feel…strange?" she asked quietly as they lay in bed together. "Like something is wrong but you don't know what?"

"Kinda, yeah. Don't worry, love, let's get up and have some breakfast. Then we'll feel better."

Hermione gave a soft laugh, "Just because food always makes you feel better, Ronald, doesn't mean it works that way for everyone. But I am rather hungry. Why don't you start frying up some sausages and I'll wake Rose?"

They slid out of bed and went their separate ways; Ron skipping down the stairs and Hermione turning toward their daughter's bedroom. "Rose," Hermione knocked on the door. When she got no response, she turned the knob and pushed it open.

Her heart plummeted. Not only was Rose nowhere to be seen, but her bed had very obviously not been slept in. Hermione had made the bed herself the day before, preparing for Rose to come home from Hogwarts after graduation. She had placed the pillows just so and put Rose's favorite childhood stuffed animal (a baby unicorn) on it. Nothing had been moved.

Panicking, Hermione screamed, "Ron!" and ran for the stairs. Her husband met her halfway and Hermione collided into his chest sobbing. "She's gone! She's gone!"

Frightened, Ron half-carried his wife down the hall to glance into Rose's bedroom himself. The meaning in her words became clear. "Where would she have gone? Why would she have left?"

"I don't know where, but isn't it obvious _why_?"

"The ferret," Ron growled, "I knew this boy was no good for her! Did she really run off just because we wouldn't let her see Malfoy?"

"That's the only explanation! We need to get dressed and go to Harry's!"

Five minutes later they were clambering out of the Potter's fireplace. "Morning Ron, Hermione," said Ginny as she tipped some bacon out of a pan and onto a plate. "We didn't expect to see you two this morning. Is Rose with you?"

"We hoped she was here," said Hermione in a strangled voice and that was when Ginny really paused to have a good look at them. They looked awful. Hermione's face was streaked with tears and Ron was paler than Professor Binns.

"She's not," said Albus as he plopped down into a chair at the kitchen table. "Do you mean she left and didn't tell you where she was going?"

"We had a row. Rose fancied herself in love with Malfoy. Hermione and I very bluntly told her that we disapproved and wouldn't allow such a relationship. When we got up this morning Rose was gone and her bed unslept in."

"Malfoy?" several voices echoed in shock and disbelief. There was a lot of confusion that followed. Ron and Hermione repeated the conversation from the previous night and Harry was ardently taking mental notes to repeat to the team of aurors who he would assign to this case; headed personally by himself.

"The first thing we need to do," said Harry as Hermione finished telling their story. "Is speak with the Malfoys. If Scorpius is still there we need to confront him about his relationship with Rose, but if he isn't then we will have to work together to find them."

As if on cue the fireplace sparked green and Draco Malfoy came tumbling into the sitting room where everyone in the Potter house was already gathered. "Potter!" yelled Draco, "What the fuck do you think you're doing strutting around in your pajamas? My son is missing and I demand you have all of your aurors start looking for him immediately! It is obvious that he has been kidnapped and-"

"Kidnapped? Is that what you think?" Hermione gasped.

"What else could have happened to him?" Draco honestly sounded concerned.

"They ran away, Malfoy," said Harry grimly.

"Who? Who ran away?" he asked in obvious confusion.

"Scorpius and Rose," whispered Ginny.

"Are you suggesting that my son ran off with some trollop? Scorpius would do no such thing!"

"Oi! Don't call my daughter a trollop!" snarled Ron.

"Trollop, slag, scarlet woman, what term do you prefer, Weasley?"

"Stop it! Both of you!" Harry put himself between them, placing a hand on each of their chests as they snarled at each other. "If we're going to find your children we need to work together."

"I agree. Let's think about this logically. If Scorpius and Rose were going to run away together, where would they go?" Hermione asked everyone.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, James, Albus, Lily, Hugo, Louis, Dominique, Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, and Fred (who were all in the sitting room) began talking at once. They each had a suggestion; yelling out friends names or names of relatives.

Honestly they weren't sure where to start. Harry knew that procedure dictated they could not file a missing wizard's report for at least 24 hours after discovering the person missing. Therefore the only people at his command were his family members.

"You lot!" he called to the kids, "start calling and owling all of Rose's and Scorpius's friends. All friends of the family and other family members. Ginny, dear, you can start making posters and contact the newspaper. Hermione, Ron, Draco, come with me."

"Where are we going?" asked Ron.

Hermione's eyes were once again filled with tears as her mind caught up with what Harry was thinking. "We're going to Diagon Alley, aren't we?"

He only nodded grimly in response.

….

_**Harry Potter's Family in Shambles After Niece Goes Missing**_

_After correspondence with Ginny Potter (nee Weasley) herself, it has been revealed that a secret love affair has been hidden from the family for years. Rose Weasley, daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Weasley (nee Granger) and Scorpius Malfoy, son of Draco Malfoy and Astoria Malfoy (nee Greengrass) met and fell in love at Hogwarts. However, neither family approved of their relationship. Upon graduation from Hogwarts yesterday afternoon, the young couple decided to take matters into their own hands. Both Rose and Scorpius were discovered missing from their homes this morning. So far the families have very little information to go on. It was confirmed by a Gringotts goblin who would not reveal his name that Malfoy and Weasley arrived at the bank well after closing hours and demanded access to their vaults. The goblin in question is quoted saying, "Ms. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy emptied their vaults around 2 o'clock this morning, well after closing time. They said nothing to me of where they were going or what they needed the money for." Pictures of the star-crossed couple can be found on page 4. The Potter, Weasley, and Malfoy families are asking for everyone in the wizarding community to please keep their eyes open for their children. _

_Gretchen Silvers_

Rose closed the newspaper and set it aside delicately before reaching for her small cup of tea. "I can't believe the goblin lied for us."

"Well, he didn't lie per se," Scorpius replied with a scrunched up nose as he continued to lounge back on the bed and flick through the channels on the telly. They were currently at a hotel in France where they had spent the night.

"Yes, well, you would think that he would have been positively itching to tell everyone that we were married." Rose scathingly gave the newspaper a flick before digging into her breakfast pastry.

"He probably gets some twisted satisfaction out of this. Seeing all of the wizarding world in an uproar about two missing teenagers. I wouldn't be surprised if he was sitting in his office right now laughing his head off while watching them run in circles trying to piece the puzzle together and find us."

Scorpius was probably right and because of that reason, Rose found herself crying before he'd even finished speaking. "I don't…I didn't…my poor mum!" she wailed and threw herself onto Scorpius's bare chest as he was clad in nothing except a pair of plain blue cotton boxers.

"Oh, Rosie, I didn't mean it like that!" he stroked her hair tenderly and kissed the top of her head. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"No," her reply was fierce.

"Then you can't think like that. Unless you want to live the rest of your life full of guilt, you need to accept not only the path that you have chosen, but the one that your parents have chosen as well."

She nodded in agreement that was punctuated with a hiccup. "It might take some time for me."

"That's fine, sweetheart, we have all the time in the world. The first thing I am going to do, however, is cancel our subscription to _The Daily Prophet_. The last thing either of us needs is to be reminded of our families every time we open the blasted paper."

After making sure that Rose's breakdown had passed, he slid out from under her and opened the paper to the very back page where you could subscribe to have it delivered to you daily. Scorpius checked the 'unsubscribe' box and sent it off with the owl who brought it, who had lingered on the windowsill as Rose had been feeding him pieces of her breakfast.

"Where are we going to live?" she asked quietly.

"Anywhere you'd like! We both speak French so we could stay in France, or if you wanted to pick up a new language I did love my visit to Spain. There's also Italy, Australia, the United States…"

"I want to stay in England. I know it's silly and reckless and probably quite stupid, but if nothing else, I would like to be physically close to my family. Not to mention I don't think I could handle relocating to an entirely new country right now. Then there's little Lux to consider and I do want him to go to Hogwarts," she put a hand on her still flat abdomen.

"Lux?"

"Yes, I was thinking we could name him Pollux since your family has that tradition of naming all of your children after astronomy things."

"How do you know it will be a boy?" Scorpius was glad for this change of topic. Talking about the baby always brightened Rose's mood.

"Well, erm, I don't exactly, but I want a boy."

"Why? We Malfoy men can be arrogant, selfish, greedy, obnoxious, and we are complete womanizers…" he was teasing and she knew it but it was still just a bit too soon. Rose knew that Scorpius was simply verbalizing how her family saw him.

With only a slight smile she replied, "Because I want him to be exactly like you. I hope he has your hair and your eyes and your smile. Most of all I hope he has your heart. You're the best wizard I know, Scorpius Malfoy."

Scorpius returned to the bed and kissed her passionately. "You want to know something, Rose? I hope we have a girl and I hope she's just like you. Unruly red hair and know-it-all tendencies included."

With a real laugh this time, Rose wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down onto the bed with her so they could quickly pick up right where they had left off a few hours previously.

….

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco went straight to the Leaky Cauldron. "Neville! Hannah!" Harry called upon entering. Instantly Neville and Hannah Longbottom were there, happy to see their friends and greeting them with warm hugs.

"Last night did you happen to see Rose or Scorpius Malfoy come through here?" Ron barked.

Neville scratched his head as if unsure and Hannah was quick to supply, "We wouldn't know, we weren't working last night. Warren was, though. Oi! Warren!" she called to a tall wizard who was currently behind the bar polishing glasses the muggle way.

Warren set down the glass he was cleaning, wiped his hands on his apron, and approached his bosses. "Yes, Mrs. Longbottom?"

"Did you happen to see Rose Weasley or Scorpius Malfoy come through here last night?"

"Yes," he said immediately as if this information were of no more significance than seeing a fly on the wall. "It had to be close to 3 o'clock, ma'am. They both came in from the back, they must've been in Diagon Alley, and they asked to use the floo. It's not uncommon, you know, we get all sorts stumbling in here all hours asking to floo home. I told them of course they could, and off they went. Didn't say where they were going."

"Bloody hell," Ron smacked a hand to his forehead. Here was confirmation. His baby girl was currently in some unknown location with the son of an ex-Death Eater. Could things possibly get any worse than this?

"What if they ran off to elope?" squeaked Hermione in terror. "What if she comes home married?"

Draco's naturally pale complexion was now chalky white. "What if…they don't come home at all?" he whispered.

"What are you on about, Malfoy? Of course they'll come home! They only ran off because they knew we didn't approve of the two of them dating! Why wouldn't they come back?" Ron shouted.

"You don't understand, Weasley. When Scorpius spoke with Astoria and I about dating your daughter, my parents overheard the conversation. It might have been implied to Scorpius that my father," he cleared his throat nervously, "would possibly harm your daughter if Scorpius continued to fraternize with her."

Before anyone could blink Ron had Draco by the collar, up against the wall, with his feet dangling a foot off the ground. "You WHAT? You threatened to physically harm my daughter if your son refused to stay away from her? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Ron," Hermione reprimanded, "for Merlin's sake, we weren't much better! We threatened to _Obliviate _Rose," a choking sob escaped her as the consequences of her actions were now coming back to haunt her.

"At least our threat was directed at _our own daughter_ and not at someone else's kid!"

"Ron, put Draco down. He's of no use to us dead," said Harry flippantly.

"I don't know, I reckon he might make one hell of a nice stuffed ferret," Ron snarled.

"What we need to do," said Draco who was obviously shaken but trying hard to reason with Ronald, "is go to Gringotts. I think we're all missing an exceptionally important fact here. How could our children possibly go off on their own without any money? I am certain Scorpius would have at least tried to access his bank account."

With an uneasy truce, Ron slid Draco down the wall and set him back on his feet so they could go and question the goblins. "Mr. Potter," greeted a goblin gleefully upon spotting them when they walked in. "I wondered how long it would take you to get here. I've already seen your wife."

"Ginny's been here?" he asked in surprise.

"I ran into her while she was on her way to place an ad with _The Daily Prophet_."

Harry politely extended his hand which the goblin shook firmly. Harry Potter was, in general, well-liked by most of the goblin community. "As you know my name I think it's only fitting that I know yours as well. I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before."

"Glenrook," he grunted. Ron was impatiently opening and closing his mouth like he wanted to interrupt while shifting his weight from foot to foot.

After giving Ron a quelling glare, Harry continued to speak with Glenrook, "I was wondering if either Rose Weasley or Scorpius Malfoy have been in here in the past 24 hours?"

"They have been," he stroked his chin thoughtfully as if he couldn't quite recall the finer details of the transaction. "I'll tell you the same thing I told your wife. They came in around 2 o'clock in the morning, cleaned out their vaults, and left. They didn't say where they were going or what they wanted the money for and I didn't ask."

"You don't know anything else?" asked Hermione desperately.

The goblin gave them a measured look, stared long and hard into the bright green eyes of Harry Potter, and said evenly, "No, I don't have any other information for you."

…

"This is _perfect_! We'll take it!" Rose was beaming at the two men in front of her. She stood in an empty sitting room of an empty house with her arms spread out. Scorpius felt a surge of joy just seeing his wife this happy.

"You heard her, mate, and she's the boss," Scorpius said to the relator who looked at them in shock. This was the first house they looked at! They hadn't even seen the attic yet or the backyard.

"You're sure, Mr. Malfoy?" he verified.

Scorpius looked to Rose who nodded and said to Mr. Jenison, "Absolutely. How soon can we move in?"

"There will be paperwork, of course, and we'll have to meet with the current owners. Then you'll have to secure the loan from your bank…" Mr. Jenison was definitely thrown off of his regular routine and was bumbling around like a novice.

"We can pay for it in cash and we would like this transaction completed as quickly as possible. My wife and I very recently found ourselves without a home and are now living out of hotels until we find a suitable place." Scorpius noted that Rose was proud of his use of muggle lingo as she gave him a reassuring nod.

"Well, I, er, okay," Mr. Jenison smiled broadly at the couple as Rose skipped to Scorpius's side and he slung an arm over her shoulders.

…..

_**Weasley and Malfoy Families Plead for Their Missing Children to Come Home**_

_Sitting down together yesterday afternoon, Ron and Hermione Weasley and Draco and Astoria Malfoy have begun the first of what will probably be many civilized conversations about moving forward. "Our children want to be together so badly they ran away," said Mr. Malfoy, "the least we can do is try to get along for them."_

_Mrs. Weasley made a similar statement, "If Rose or Scorpius reads this, please know that we are trying to work out our differences. Despite all that we have said, we would rather have our children safely home than hold onto ancient grudges."_

_Both families promise to reconsider their previous positions on the issue if their children return home. Now all we can do is wait and see if these two hurt individuals can find it in their hearts to forgive their families. _

_If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Rose Weasley and/or Scorpius Malfoy, contact authorities at once. _

_Gretchen Silvers_

…..

Neither Rose nor Scorpius saw the article as they were ardently ignoring everything that had to do with the wizarding world. It had only been a couple of days since they left but they were already getting ready to move into their new home.

Purchasing a home from muggles turned out to be much more complicated than purchasing a home in the wizarding world. Muggles apparently had to have the house inspected, make sure it was suitable to live in, sign numerous papers, etc. and it was driving Scorpius crazy but he was taking care of everything as Rose was already stressed about their situation.

"Mr. Jenison said we should be able to move in next week," said Scorpius happily as he shook his blonde hair, ridding it of a few stray raindrops.

"You're using magic to move this along more quickly, aren't you?" Rose accused as she set up a chessboard on the table in their hotel room.

"Just a little," Scorpius admitted with a smirk as he sat across from her and moved one of his white pawns forward.

"I've been thinking," she mused as she moved a knight. "We are moving into the most muggle neighborhood we could find. As far as we can tell the closest wizards to our new house are very far away. The Ministry can detect magic use…"

"We're of age, they can't Trace us," he reminded her as she took his pawn with a smile.

"I know, but they can still detect magic use. Wizards and witches are supposed to register their addresses with the Ministry so the Ministry knows where they can expect magic to be practiced. If, all of a sudden, right after our disappearances, magic crops up in a previously muggle-exclusive neighborhood, I'm positive they will come to investigate. I am also positive that my mother will have already thought of this and will have contacted the Magical Conduct department."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I don't think it would be safe for us to use magic at home. I mean, sure, if we go to London for anything we can use magic, but with us being so far from the closest wizards, it would be too obvious."

Scorpius sighed and flicked over his own queen as Rose moved to take it. "I reckon you're right."

His depressed tone caused her to glance up at him. "Scorpius, if you're having second thoughts, I won't hold it against you. If you wanted to turn around right now and go home, I would understand. I know that I'm asking a lot of you and it's not fair…"

He shushed her with a finger over her lips. "I love you. If giving up magic is what I have to do to be with you and keep you safe, then it's a small price to pay."

"Keep me safe?" she asked.

"Er, you see, that was one of the things my family said. Well, my grandfather said it, actually. He told me that if I pursued a relationship with you, he would kill you."

Rose blanched. "Oh. I'm glad he didn't overreact or anything."

Scorpius gave a humor-less chuckle and kissed her soundly on the lips. "I'll never let anything happen to you," he knelt down and pressed a kiss to her bellybutton. "I won't let anything happen to you, either."

…

Molly Weasley was exhausted. She'd been searching for her cousin for days now with no trace of Rose or Scorpius. Then again, Rose was more than just her cousin; she was her best friend. Growing up, Albus and Molly were the two people that Rose was closest to. She had a lot of other friends, but it was always the three of them who were inseparable.

Molly had been shocked and hurt when she heard the news of Rose running away to be with Scorpius because Rose had never told her a thing about it. She hadn't even known Rose fancied Scorpius, let alone was in love with him enough to run off with him.

Feeling torn between hurt, angry, and worried, Molly found herself at the Scamander's front door. It just so happened that Scorpius Malfoy's best friend was Lorcan Scamander. Molly knew the Scamander's well, as Lysander was one of her best friends, and was knocking confidently on the front door when Lysander answered. "Hey, Ly, is Lorcan home?" she asked.

"Yes, he's in his room reading. Do you want me to go get him?"

"No need," Molly brushed past Lysander. "I'll go up there myself." She gracefully bounded up the stairs and knocked on the second door on the right despite the fact that it was open and she could see Lorcan lounged on his bed with a book propped up.

"Hey, Molly," Lorcan sat up and closed the book. Normally when Molly Weasley stopped by it was to visit Lysander who was in Gryffindor and they were in the same group of friends.

"Hi, Lorcan," she began timidly as she gazed at the Slytherin décor of his room. Lorcan Scamander gave everyone a surprise when the Sorting Hat placed him in Slytherin, the house most opposite of the one his twin had been Sorted into. "I wanted to ask you about Scorpius."

"What about him?" Lorcan motioned for her to take a seat on the bed beside him, but as she still felt a bit uncomfortable in his bedroom, she instead sat in the arm chair by his desk.

"You must have heard by now that he's missing."

"Yes, Draco and Astoria stopped by here a few days ago, but I haven't seen or heard from him since graduation."

"It's just…" she bit her bottom lip. Lorcan was Scorpius's best friend just like she was Rose's best friend. Was it possible that he felt as betrayed as she did? Or had he known about this secret relationship? Was Scorpius more honest with his friends than Rose was with hers? "Did you expect this to happen?"

Caught off guard by the train of her thoughts, he raised his blonde eyebrows at her. "I didn't know he was dating Rose if that's what you're asking. But I'm not shocked to hear that they ran off together. For the past couple of years I suspected he had a soft spot for her. I caught him looking her way a few times and more than once I saw her looking back."

"So in a way, you sort of knew?"

"No, I didn't _know_. I am just observant. I noticed them noticing each other and I thought that perhaps, one day, they might overcome their prejudices and talk to each other. But after I heard what happened everything made a lot more sense. I can recall several nights when Scorpius didn't sleep in the dormitory and refused to tell us where he'd been. I remember the way he would always care about how he looked on days when we had classes with the Gryffindors. One time he came back to the dorm smelling distinctly of perfume but vehemently denied being with a girl. Didn't you notice similar things with Rose?"

Molly thought hard about that. Had she ever suspected Rose of having a secret boyfriend? "Well, there were several occasions when boys would ask her on dates and she always politely refused. I thought she just wanted to focus on schoolwork, I didn't think it was because she already had a boyfriend. I never noticed if she didn't sleep in her bed because the curtains were always drawn and I was usually asleep before she came back from the library in the evenings. Oh Merlin!" she gasped. "I just remembered! There was a day, in sixth year, that Albus and I were teasing her because she had a bruise on her neck that looked like a hickey."

Lorcan chuckled. "You believed she had a bruise…on her neck?"

"Hey! She was our best friend! Of course we believed her ridiculous story about accidentally punching herself in the throat."

Lorcan smiled at her fondly, "You Gryffindors are so trusting. I have an idea. How about you let me take you out to lunch? We can go to Diagon Alley and you can tell me about all of the crazy stories Rose told you to cover up this torrid affair with Scorpius."

Molly appraised critically before saying, "Yeah, alright, that sounds like fun."


	3. Five Years Later

**Five years later**

"It's getting out of hand."

"I agree, but what can we do about it?"

"I have an idea but you're not going to like it," Rose pursed her lips across the table from her husband. Scorpius was holding their one year old son on his lap, attempting to feed him pieces of muggle cereal while Rose was busy cutting a piece of sausage into bite-sized chunks for their four year old daughter.

"Let me hear it," he said in defeat.

"I think that I should take her to Knockturn Alley."

"What?" Scorpius's mouth dropped open and he gazed at Rose as if she'd grown an extra head. "What the bloody hell would that accomplish?"

"There's bound to be something that would cloak her abilities from the Ministry! If there is, I'm sure I would be able to find it in Knockturn Alley."

"There are several things wrong with that thought," said Scorpius casually, "first of all, if either of us ventured down there it should be me. Secondly, they would recognize either of us. Thirdly, she's four years old for Godric's sake! We shouldn't even have this problem yet!"

Four year old Adara Malfoy was bright for her age. She knew exactly what her parents were talking about. For the past couple of months she'd been doing accidental magic. Okay, perhaps it was not entirely accidental.

She'd been told for years about magic, how it worked, even the names of certain spells. But she'd never seen magic performed before. Her parents didn't do magic anymore. They said it was too dangerous because the Ministry was capable of detecting magic.

The Malfoy family lived in a muggle neighborhood and had not registered with the Ministry of Magic when they moved because, quite frankly, it would have been quite stupid. Rose's parents and Scorpius's parents panicked when they discovered their children were missing.

Although Rose and Scorpius didn't know any of the details, both were certain that their families had offered huge rewards for information on the location of their children and that the Ministry was probably looking for them. When a witch or wizard became of age, the Trace was taken off of them, but the Ministry still had ways of detecting magic use throughout the country. If magic was used in a muggle neighborhood, the Ministry could check to see if there were any registered witches or wizards living there.

To be safe, Rose and Scorpius had long ago locked away their wands. Scorpius worked now as a lawyer which made more than enough money to support the family comfortably. Rose stayed at home with her children but was hopeful that once they started primary school she would be able to find a job.

They hadn't expected Adara to show signs of magic for a couple more years. The average age was anywhere from seven to nine when children began performing magic. But now it was too late to think of that. Because their daughter could ruin the lives they had been building for the last five years.

"It makes sense for me to go, Love. You're too recognizable. You look like a Malfoy," said Rose reasonably.

"And you look too much like a Weasley. Damn it, Rose, if we could do magic you could just transfigure my features or brew up some Polyjuice Potion!"

"Watch your language in front of the children," she replied mildly then addressed his concerns, "My resemblance to the rest of my family is why I think I should be the one to go. I will blend right in. There are so many of us Weasleys. Several close to my age and with similar looks; Molly, Lucy, Dominique, Lily..."

His expression softened just a bit, "None of them look like you, Rose. You're much more beautiful than your cousins."

"Thanks," she beamed at him, "but you're just trying to change the subject. We both know that this is our best option. I'll wear a cloak and keep the hood up to hide my hair. If anyone does catch sight of me, they'll just mistake me for another Weasley. After all, who would expect Rose Weasley to be strutting down Diagon Alley?"

...

In the end, Rose had won the argument, just as she normally did. She parked her car a few streets away from The Leaky Cauldron and hurriedly pulled Adara from her toddler seat. "Are we really going to Diagon Alley, Mummy?" the girl asked excitedly.

"Yes, Darling, but we don't have time to look around right now. In a few years Mummy will bring you back to get your things for Hogwarts, but right now we're in a hurry."

Her whole body vibrating with excitement, the little girl held tightly to her mother's hand and they made their way to the pub Rose knew so well. This would be the hardest part. Her Uncle Neville and Aunt Hannah owned the place and they would recognize her immediately if they caught a glimpse of her face.

Normally she wore muggle clothes everywhere, but that didn't mean she hadn't held onto her witch's attire. As she approached the place she pulled on an emerald green cloak and fastened the brass button. Then she bent down to pull a dark purple cloak over Adara; the girl would look out of place in Diagon Alley wearing a muggle dress.

"Now behave and don't tell anyone your surname. Can you do that, Addie?"

"Yes," Adara promised. And she meant it. If the only way she could get her parents to bring her to this place was to be on her best behavior then she would be the best little girl in the whole world.

Most magical people had to gaze at the front of the Leaky Cauldron for several minutes before being able to see it, as it was hidden to the muggle eye. But not Adara. It was effortless for her. "I'm going to carry you through the restaurant," said Rose as she scooped her daughter up into her arms.

With haste, she pulled the hood of her cloak up to cover her untamed red locks and entered the tavern. It was just like she remembered it and being there made her heart hurt. Her Aunt Hannah was behind the bar, pouring a glass of firewhiskey to a customer.

"What can I get for you?" Hannah called to Rose with a smile.

"Just passing through," Rose replied gruffly and swept briskly out the backdoor to the brick wall and then entered Diagon Alley.

...

Albus Severus Potter was just exiting his uncle's joke shop when he saw her. He was always skimming the heads of people walking up and down the alley, looking for a glimpse of red or a speck of white-blonde that was unique to the Malfoy family. For the past five years he never had any luck. When he did spot someone with red hair it ended up being a different cousin.

Now, however, he did a double-take. White blonde hair had caught his attention and he focused in on it. He groaned in disappointment. It was just a little girl. She couldn't be more than perhaps five years old.

But Albus was certain she had to be a Malfoy. With hair that blonde and the graceful way she moved, it reminded him so much of Scorpius that he felt compelled to follow her. He weaved his way through the crowd until he was closer to the little girl and saw that she was holding tightly to the hand of someone who must be her mother.

The witch's face was hidden and she was moving distinctly with purpose, but the gait was familiar to Albus. He hastily removed his glasses, cleaned them, put them back on his face and gazed at them again. It couldn't be.

As if sensing someone watching her, the little girl's head swiveled around to gaze directly at Albus. His heart jumped up into his throat. She had Rose's face. The Weasley blue eyes, heart-shaped frame, and barely-there freckles across the bridge of her nose.

If there was any doubt before, it was gone now. Albus dashed forward and followed the duo as they turned down Knockturn Alley. When they entered Borgin and Burkes, he extracted the Extendable Ear from his pocket and listened to the conversation inside.

"What can I do for you?" asked Mr. Burke, a descendent of the man who'd originally opened the shop.

"I'm here because I have a dilemma, Mr. Burke, that I am hoping you can help me with."

"Certainly, certainly."

"You see, my daughter is only four years old, and she has started performing accidental magic," hearing Rose's voice for the first time after so many years had Albus almost in tears, and Albus never cried.

"That's quite a feat for such a young lass," commented Mr. Burke.

"Indeed," said Rose snippily, "I'm afraid that the Ministry will be able to detect her magic use and it's my desire to find a way to hide it from the Ministry."

"Why?" asked Mr. Burke suspiciously as he leaned forward across the counter to get a closer look at the girl who then took a step back and looked like she was fighting the urge to hide behind her mother.

"My reasons are my own. Do you have a way to accomplish this or not?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," he disappeared into a back room for a few minutes and when he emerged he was holding a frayed and yellowed piece of parchment. "Handy little spell that I haven't used in a few years. Is there any type of trinket that your daughter always has on her?"

"Yes," said Rose as she bent down to unclasp the necklace hanging around Adara's neck. It was one of the few Malfoy heirlooms that Scorpius had brought with him from the Manor. An elegant silver M embedded with emeralds and with a serpent entwining the letter. She handed it over to Mr. Burke who eyed it carefully before pulling out his wand and muttering a complex incantation over it.

When he was finished, the charm emitted a bright golden glow for just a second and then looked exactly the same as it always had. "That should do it," he proclaimed as he handed it back to Rose.

"That's all?" she asked with interest.

"That spell should cloak any magic that the Ministry might be able to detect for at least the next decade."

"If I were to give you another item, like a ring, would the spell also work on a witch or wizard who is of age?" Rose bent to replace the necklace around the throat of her daughter.

"Absolutely."

"Here," Rose thrust her left hand at him, showing off the wedding band that was magically stuck to her finger. Mr. Burke uttered the same incantation a second time and then released her hand from his grasp.

"How much do I owe you?" she pulled a heavy pouch from her pocket.

"Fifty galleons, and that's a bargain for you, Mrs. Malfoy," he grinned.

Rose paled but stood her ground. After forking over the fifty galleons, she said in a business-like tone, "Very well. You know how this works, I'm sure, Mr. Burke, so please save me time and tell me which is more likely to keep your mouth shut; a threat or a bribe?"

"A bribe," he said at once, "A hundred galleons every time you visit my shop. If you're hiding from the Ministry I'm sure you'll be needing my assistance several times throughout the coming years."

"It's a deal," as she handed over even more money, Adara wandered over to the window and peered out at the odd people walking by on the street. When she glanced up, she saw the same man who had been watching them earlier. His untidy black hair standing up in the back, his round spectacles slightly askew, and his green eyes wide with surprise.

Adara gave him her best smile and waved. He looked nice. Albus blinked at her and then waved back. She had Malfoy's smirk, Al realized when the little girl was about to turn away from him. The first breathtaking smile she'd bestowed on him was all Rose, but then it had turned into Malfoy's smirk.

When they finally exited the shop, Rose said quietly, "We're going to make just a quick stop for Daddy and then we'll go home."

"Oh, Mummy," cried Adara, "I don't want to go home yet! There was a store that had owls! And racing brooms!"

"Absolutely not," said Rose while adjusting her hood, still being unaware of the fact that her cousin was following her, "the last time you got ahold of a broomstick, you ended up stuck up in the tree behind the house. Daddy had to climb up there and get you."

"It was an accident," pleaded the girl.

"How about we get some sweets instead? Brand new ones that you've never had before. Chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes and licorice wands!"

"Oh yes!" the little girl jumped up into the air and clapped her hands together.

"Okay, but you must hold my hand." Adara obliged and the two disappeared into the best sweetshop in Diagon Alley.

With her arms laden with bags, Rose left Diagon Alley at a quick pace which had Al struggling to keep up. When he saw her getting into a car, he acted quickly and shot a spell at her. Thankfully it hit his target. It was a nifty little spell that he'd learned in Auror training as a way of tracking someone. Anywhere Rose went, Albus would be able to follow.

...

It didn't take Albus long on a broomstick to follow the direction his wand led him in to find his long lost cousin. She surprisingly didn't live very far from London. When he landed across the street from the house his wand was leading him to, he pulled the Invisibility Cloak tighter around his shoulders and snuck up to the house.

To say that what he saw surprised him would be an understatement. Scorpius Malfoy, the boy who everyone in the school had been afraid to approach, the boy who everyone thought would curse the first person who looked at him funny, the boy who was accused of so many terrible things was lying on his back on the floor. In his arms was a small toddler who Scorpius was tossing lightly into the air and then catching. Both father and son were laughing heartily.

The little girl came running in then, holding a doll, and Scorpius sat up to talk with the girl, a smile on his face. The girl clambered up onto Scorpius's lap and began brushing her doll's hair while talking to her dad. A few moments later, Rose entered the room and it was the first time Al saw her face in five years.

She looked older, but the same. His heart faltered. His entire life, Rose had been not only his favorite cousin but also his best friend. The few times he'd suspected of something going on between her and Scorpius, she had quickly dismissed his assumptions. Of course, he should've assured her that he would have been okay with it, but he never did. He would just let it go.

The toddler, he noticed, could stand on wobbly legs and take a step or two before falling over. He had reddish blonde hair that Albus would almost classify as strawberry blonde, but with just a touch more red than that. His short hair was curling a bit and he could tell, even from this distance, that it had the same texture as Rose's unruly curls.

Both children, oddly enough, were perfect blends of their parents. The eldest, whom Albus had heard Rose call, "Adara," looked equally like Scorpius and Rose. So did this small boy. The mixture of his parent's hair colors, and as Albus inched up to the window to get a better look, saw that the boys eyes were his father's shade of grey but had Rose's shape to them.

"Come on, silly," he heard Rose say with a smile as she picked up the boy, "is your daddy being funny again?" The boy laughed and said, "Daddy! Daddy!"

"That's right, Lux," cooed Scorpius as he tapped the baby gently under his chin, "going to be just as smart as your mum, aren't you? Look at you, already saying words and walking! Not even a year old yet!"

Rose beamed at Scorpius and stretched up to give him a kiss on the jaw, "I love you, darling."

Scorpius took her face very gently in his hands and gave her a light kiss on the lips, "I love you, too, Rose."

The look he gave his wife then made Albus want to turn his face away from watching. It was so full of love and longing that he felt almost like he was intruding on something private. So instead, he said to himself, "Lux? What sort of name is that?"

"Must be short for 'Pollux,'" said a voice next to him. Albus jumped as his younger sister, Lily, suddenly appeared beside him.

"Lily? What the hell?" Albus growled.

"You were so busy following Rose that you didn't notice _me _following _you _under a Disillusionment Charm."

"Okay, so why do you think his name is Pollux?"

"All the old pureblood families have the tradition of naming their children after stars and constellations. Like Adara. And Pollux."

"How the bloody hell do you know the names of all the stars and constellations?"

"Because I actually paid attention in Astronomy, you prat. Now, shh, Adara is saying something."

"Mummy, I'm hungry," said the little girl who looked up at her parents from the doll in her arms who had previously had her attention.

"Would you like to fly to the kitchen like an airplane?" inquired Scorpius.

"Yes!" declared Adara. A moment later, she was in her father's arms as he made airplane noises, and swung her around, 'flying' her into the kitchen and placing her in a chair at the table.

As Rose brought the food from the stove to the table, Albus retreated. He didn't think he could stand to watch anymore. Nor did he want to risk what might happen if he announced his presence to the small family.

"Come on," he said gruffly to Lily, "let's get out of here."

"They seem happy, don't they?"

"Yes," said Al in a tone of defeat.

"Are you going to tell Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione?"

"I rather think that I should. They haven't been the same since she ran away. I think they would accept her marriage to Scorpius if it meant having her back in their lives."

"Did you see the little girl?" Lily asked softly, "she was at least four years old, Albus, you know what that means. Rose was probably pregnant when she ran away."

Albus paled at that revelation, the mental image rising unbidden in his mind of Rose, at the tender age of seventeen, shagging Scorpius Malfoy. He shuddered. "I would rather not think about that, Lils."

"Let's Apparate home, okay? It's kind of chilly tonight and I don't fancy flying in the rain," it had just started to sprinkle little rain droplets.

"Yeah, alright, I'll do it. Hold tight." Lily hugged her brother closely and the two disappeared with a loud _crack!_

Inside the house, Rose's head snapped up at the sound. Her eyes sought Scorpius's, to find that his were wide as well. They both knew that sound too well. "Do you think..." she trailed off, unsure of what she thought herself.

"It could be coincidence," he said briskly.

"Or it might not be," Rose's hand fluttered absently over her abdomen, "I might have been followed home, or the Ministry might have come to investigate Addie's magic..."

Scorpius, who had noticed Rose's odd movements quirked an eyebrow at her in question, "Are you feeling alright?" he nodded towards her hands, which were both on her stomach.

"What? Oh, yes, just felt a bit sick. But aren't you concerned about whoever just Apparated?"

"Not as much as I'm concerned about my wife possibly being sick. Do you want to lie down?"

"Don't be silly, Scorpius, I just need something to eat, I haven't eaten all day, and I was shaking with nerves the whole time I was in Diagon Alley."

"Let's go to bed early tonight, okay? Just so you get some extra rest," his concern for her had her smiling fondly, but she knew he was fretting over nothing.

"I almost forgot! Addie, why don't you give Daddy his surprise?" at Rose's prompting, the little girl hopped down from her chair, rushed to the sitting room, and came running back with a bag full of sweets.

"Wow! Thanks, Rose!" Scorpius exclaimed in excitement, "I don't think I'm going to have any dinner tonight! Merlin, I haven't had Deluxe Sugar Quills in ages!" a moment later, he was moaning in appreciation of the goodies and Rose felt happiness swell within her. As much as she sometimes missed her parents and other relatives, she wouldn't give up the life she had now for anything.

...

"Aunt Hermione?" Albus called as he let himself into the house through the front door, "Uncle Ron? Hugo?"

"Oh, hullo, Albus," Hermione bustled into the sitting room. She looked well, he noted silently, for nearly a year after Rose had run away Hermione looked so pale and ragged. "Is everything alright?"

She moved closer to her nephew and brushed his untidy black hair back over his forehead, checking to see if he had a fever. Albus barely suppressed a chuckle, "I'm fine, Aunt Hermione. I just had something I wanted to talk to you and Uncle Ron about. Is he here?"

"Yes, I'm here," Ron was still in his magenta staff robes that he wore to work as he entered the room.

"You two might want to sit down," he cautioned as he motioned to the sofa. Once they were both seated comfortably, and eyeing him with suspicion, he exhaled sharply and just spit it out, "When-I-left-the-joke-shop-today-I-saw-Rose."

"What?" Hermione's question was barely audible. Ron looked like he'd been hit by a bus. "We've been searching for her for years. _Years_! And you just happen to see her wandering down Diagon Alley?"

Albus hesitated before admitting the rest, "She was only there for one reason. I followed her to Knockturn Alley, and listened in on the conversation she had in Burgin and Burkes-"

"I knew it!" Ron interrupted angrily, "that slimy git has corrupted her! What sort of illegal stuff was she buying? Or selling?"

Albus's eyes were sad when he replied, "She was there to purchase a spell that would cloak magic use from the Ministry...apparently her daughter started performing magic at an early age and they were worried about the Ministry detecting it."

That left both Hermione and Ron speechless. After several long minutes, Ron managed a strangled question, "I'm...a granddad?"

Al gave him a small smile, "It looks like it, Uncle Ron. She was with Rose today, in Diagon Alley. She's beautiful."

"Of course she is," said Hermione hoarsely, "how could she not be with a mother like Rose? And you think it's definitely Scorpius's then?" Hermione was not an idiot, she knew the answer, but still hated to hear it confirmed.

"Without a doubt."

"Did you manage to follow her home?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes," said Al slowly, "but I'm not sure if I should give you two her address. Rose obviously doesn't want to be found, and...and I don't think it would be right for the two of you, or even a team of Aurors, to go bursting in there and bust apart a happy family!"

"A happy family?" Ron's voice cracked on the last word.

"Yes," he replied vehemently, suddenly defensive of his favorite cousin and her choices, "I followed her home and do you know what I found? Scorpius Malfoy, Rose's _husband_, taking care of their small son while Rose was out with Adara."

"Adara?" the name rolled sweetly off Hermione's tongue.

"Yeah, it seems Rose and Scorpius have two kids. And they're so happy. You should have seen them, Uncle Ron, you wouldn't have believed it. Hell, I saw and heard it myself and I almost don't believe it."

"How about this," said Hermione, tightening her hold on Ron's hand as she knew he was about to start yelling at Albus, demanding an address. "We promise that we won't barge in there and demand on bringing her home. We'll disguise ourselves as muggles and just go and visit with them and assess the situation ourselves."

While thinking this over, Al eyed them cautiously then abruptly nodded his head before rattling off the address. "Don't hurt her again, either of you. If you force her to run away again, we might never find her."

...

Ron and Hermione were now Robert and Linda Williams. They were a young muggle couple, standing with their arms linked, knocking on the front door of a large house in a nice muggle neighborhood. "Malfoys always did have money..." grumbled Ron as he gazed at the home.

Hermione jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow just as the front door opened. Scorpius Malfoy stood on the threshold, with a tiara on his head and a little girl clinging to his back shouting, "Hold still! Your crown is going to fall, Daddy!"

Her tiny little hands straightened the lopsided tiara as Scorpius grinned good-naturedly at the people he didn't recognize standing before him. "Hullo," he greeted them brightly, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Erm, yes," said Hermione who couldn't take her eyes off of the little girl who had Rose's face framed by platinum blonde hair. "My-my husband and I were thinking of purchasing the house that's for sale across the street," she motioned vaguely over her shoulder, "but we wanted to meet a few of the neighbors first and ask a few questions about the neighborhood."

"Well come on in," Scorpius would normally be wary of inviting strangers into his home, but his wand was always in his pocket and he knew muggles would be no match for a wizard if they tried anything funny. "My name is Scorpius, by the way, Scorpius Malfoy."

He extended his hand which Hermione immediately grasped, "Linda Williams, and my husband, Robert."

"Nice to meet you," grunted Robert who was looking around the house in a way that made Scorpius uneasy.

"Alright, Addie, we have company so I'm going to have to put you down. We can finish playing dress-up later, okay?"

"Aw," Adara pouted as her father bent down to set her gently on her feet, "but we didn't even get to the jewelry yet!"

He chuckled, ruffled her hair affectionately, and the little girl ran up the stairs saying something about needing to play with her baby dolls. "Beautiful daughter you have there," said Hermione softly.

"Yes," Scorpius smiled in a way that melted Hermione's heart, "just like her mother, too. My wife, Rose, should be home soon, she went to the doctor with our son for his one-year-old check-up. His birthday is next week."

"Oh, congratulations," Hermione gave Ron a pointed look, clearly telling him to join in on the conversation. He was still busily inspecting the pictures that adorned the walls; mostly muggle art, and the occasional family photograph.

"Would you like some coffee or tea?" Scorpius offered.

"Yes, tea would be lovely, thank you," said Hermione.

"Yeah, a cup of tea, that would be great," agreed Ron, who was finally starting to relax just a bit. They sat down gingerly on the sofa as Scorpius disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned with the tea he waited patiently for Mr. and Mrs. Williams to ask him questions about the neighborhood.

"So what do you do for a living?" asked Ron bluntly.

"I'm a lawyer, actually. Not many professions earn enough money to live in this area. Most of the occupants of the houses around here have both spouses working, but fortunately I make enough so Rose doesn't have to work. She wants to stay home with the children until they're old enough for primary school."

"Primary school?" Hermione asked in surprise. She hadn't expected something so muggle to come from a Malfoy's mouth. A Malfoy! Attending muggle primary school! The thought was almost laughable.

"Yes," Scorpius replied with a small frown, suddenly unsure if he used the right term.

At that moment they all turned their heads as the sound of the door opening caught their attention. Rose entered the room a moment later, her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, a smile on her face, and a small boy in her arms. "The doctor confirmed it!" she said without preamble.

Scorpius's expression turned into one of pure joy as he leapt to his feet and fist-pumped the air. "That's excellent! How are you feeling? Do you want to lie down? Should I draw you a bath? Would you like a cup of tea, Love? I already have it made..."

Rose was barely listening as she just noticed that they had company. "Hullo," she smiled at the two strangers.

"Rose, this is Mr. and Mrs. Williams, they're considering buying the house for sale and wanted to talk to a few of the residents in the neighborhood."

"It's lovely to meet you both," Rose was still beaming.

"Are you alright, Dear?" said Hermione fondly, not having forgotten the way Scorpius had been fussing over her a moment before, "Are you sick?"

"What? Oh! No!" Rose giggled, her eyes shining brightly, "I just found out that I'm pregnant."

"I hope that for once, we have a child who looks exactly like you," said Scorpius fondly as he put a hand on her flat abdomen.

"Well I hope he looks just like you!" she teased as she gave him a light kiss, momentarily forgetting their audience. "I'm sorry," she blushed as she glanced at the awkward couple sitting on the couch.

"You're fine," Hermione whispered as tears sprang to her eyes. Scorpius took his son from his wife's arms and kissed his forehead where his reddish blonde curls rested.

Little footsteps were heard prancing down the stairs and suddenly Adara appeared, her face a mess of colors. "Adara Jean!" Rose reprimanded, "Did you play with Mummy's make-up again?"

"Yep," said the girl, entirely unabashed, "now I'm as pretty as you are!"

Scorpius laughed heartily, as did Ron and Hermione, "Sweetheart," said Scorpius, "make-up is for grown-up ladies. You look beautiful without it."

"I'll go wash her face," said Rose who was still giggling, "I'll be right back, Mr. and Mrs. Williams!" Rose took Adara by the hand and led her back up the stairs.

"You two seem very happy together," commented Ron stiffly.

"We are," there was no doubt that Scorpius answered the question honestly.

"How did you two meet?" Hermione asked shrewdly, almost hoping to catch him in a lie. What was their cover story to the muggle population? Was he actually a lawyer or were they living off of his wizard fortune?

Without any hesitation, Scorpius launched into their well-rehearsed story, "My wife and I met at an orphanage, actually. When I was eleven years old, my parents died and as I didn't have any other relatives, that's where I ended up. Rose was already there. She never knew either of her parents, as she was given to the orphanage as a newborn. When I turned eighteen, I started law school, bought a house with the money my parents left for me, and then when Rose turned eighteen we got married and have been together ever since."

"That's so awful," said Hermione, who was only slightly offended that Rose had been lying to everyone about her parentage.

"Nah," Scorpius corrected her, "I can't imagine a life without her. As much as I miss my parents, Rose, Addie, Lux, and the new baby on its way are the only family I need."

"Lux?" asked Ron, gesturing to the boy who was now sleeping in Scorpius's arms.

"Pollux. Pollux Ronald Malfoy. Rose and I made a deal when we got married that I could choose our children's first names and she got to choose the middle names. My family had a tradition of naming children after stars and constellations."

"Your daughter," said Ron suddenly, "How old is she?"

"Ah, she'll be five soon. Next month, actually."

Hermione and Ron both paled. If Hermione's math was correct, and it always was, then Rose had been about two months pregnant when she'd run away from home. And after all of the terrible things they had said about Scorpius and Rose being together! Ron even threatened Obliviation! And she had been _pregnant_!

"He looks like you," said Hermione almost in disbelief as she gazed down at Pollux. "May I hold him?"

"Of course," Scorpius passed the infant to Hermione. "Do you two have any children?"

"Two," said Ron gruffly, "a daughter and a son."

"Even though these two run me ragged, I've always wanted to have a lot of children," said Scorpius fondly, "I didn't have any brothers or sisters, obviously, so I want my kids to have a big family."

"That's lovely," said Hermione sincerely.

"Anyway," Ron cleared his throat pointedly, "Do you like this area? Is it a good place to settle down, with children?"

"Absolutely. I couldn't think of any place I would rather be."

"Do you know anything of the people who lived there previously?"

"Yes, Rose and I were friends with the Tanners. They only moved to be closer to their family. It's a beautiful house, too."

"Will you be staying for dinner?" asked Rose as she reappeared with the little girl in tow.

"Oh, no, we were, ah, just leaving actually. We didn't mean to impose."

"No, not at all," Rose beamed at them and Hermione was surprised to find her looking so healthy and happy. She had been so certain that Scorpius would make her life miserable.

"We really must be on our way. Thank you so much your hospitality," Hermione said in a clipped voice. She couldn't take this anymore. She was about to start crying or having hysterics. Maybe even a full-scale panic attack.

Ron and Hermione practically ran from the house. "Well…what now?" asked Ron gruffly as he felt his skin start to shift back into his own freckly complexion.

"I don't know…I just don't know."


	4. Attack

**A/N: Yay for quick updates! This was one of my favorite chapters to write for this story. I've said it before and I will say it again, I do NOT plan on this being a long story. Maybe somewhere around 10 chapters. **

**As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**WARNING: Language and light violence in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

…**.**

Draco Malfoy was not exactly sure what he was doing here. Mr. Burke had sent him an urgent owl saying that he had to come to the shop immediately. As the tinkling bell sounded over his head when he stepped into the dusty store, Mr. Burke looked up at him with a grin. "Glad you made it, Mr. Malfoy."

"Mr. Burke," he shook his outstretched hand. "Always a pleasure. However, if this is about another rare magic item you have for sale, it had better be something more impressive than the enchanted teapot you tried selling me once."

"This has nothing to do with my shop or any items I want to buy or sell. This is actually about a much more personal matter of yours."

"A personal matter of mine?"

"Are you still offering a reward for any information on your son?"

Draco Malfoy hid his surprise with a wicked smirk. "That depends on who is offering the information."

"I am," said Mr. Burke sternly.

Draco considered his options. He could either agree to the reward price he'd been offering in the newspaper for the past five years, or he could pull out his wand and threaten Mr. Burke on the pain of death to tell him the information and not give him a sickle.

Right now he knew it was in his best interest to humor the shopkeeper. Without taking his eyes off of Mr. Burke he extracted money from his pocket and dropped it on the counter. "Consider this a small down payment. If you have some knowledge that is actually useful to me I will guarantee payment of the rest of the promised reward."

Mr. Burke smiled with an evil glint in his eye. "I can give you your boy's home address."

...

Draco Malfoy stopped in front of the address of the house Mr. Burke had given him. He was instantly disgusted by the overall muggle feeling of the area. He could hear children giggling down the street and the rumbling sound of a running lawn mower.

With purposeful steps he strode up the walk to the front door. Even though he had donned a casual muggle suit for the occasion, he couldn't help but keep a traveling cloak around his solid shoulders. The suit was black but the cloak was an ink bottle green.

What would he say to his son? Honestly he hadn't thought this through at all before arriving. As he raised a fist to knock on the large oak door, he realized with a jolt that he had no idea what he was going to say.

Would he beg Scorpius to return home? Demand that he leave the Weasley girl at once? Worse, what if the wench was here? Shaking his head to clear it, he brought his fist down swiftly three times.

Three knocks resounded loudly throughout the house. Rose Malfoy had just set Pollux gently down in his crib. The baby boy was fast asleep, one hand up at his face with his thumb in his mouth. Rose affectionately patted his soft curls before skipping down the stairs to answer the door.

With a smile she pulled the front door open and immediately jumped back in shock and horror. Draco Malfoy stood on the threshold and Rose didn't think she would have been more frightened if it had been Lord Voldemort himself.

A scream escaped her as she scrambled back. It would be foolish, she knew, to close the door. There were no wards on her house and as Mr. Malfoy clearly had his wand drawn, he could easily blast the front door down if Rose refused him entry.

Recovering from her initial surprise, Rose pulled herself up to her full height and asked angrily, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to speak with my son. Where is he?" Draco bit out impatiently. Rose blanched. Scorpius was at work and would be for at least three more hours. Was this some sort of test? If Rose told Draco that Scorpius was at work, would he take the opportunity to kill or kidnap Rose?

She silently cursed herself for leaving her wand in the sitting room, but Adara occasionally got ahold of it whenever it was within her reaching distance so Rose had taken to keeping it up high on the mantle above the fireplace.

Adara! The little girl was playing in the backyard and wouldn't come in until Rose called for her. With any luck Draco would never know about the children. He obviously didn't seem to know about them now. Rose knew that if he did know about them, he probably would have been tearing the house apart in an attempt find them. And kill them.

Damn it damn it damn it! Rose didn't know what to do. Only a moment had passed but all of these thoughts and more had run through her head. How should she proceed?

"He's, um, out, but I expect him home any time. If you're truly here only to talk with him, then I suggest we wait in the sitting room," her voice was firm and confident.

"Do you take me for a fool, Ms. Weasley?"

"Mrs. Malfoy," she corrected boldly.

Draco sneered, "Just because you and my idiot son were married by some muggle official does not mean that your marriage is recognized as legal and binding in the magical world. You've not been bonded by a wizard official, therefore I do not recognize this farce of a marriage."

Rose bit her lip to keep from telling him that she and Scorpius _had _been married by a wizard official. They'd had to pay him off to keep quiet about it, but they had done it. Instead, she continued, "Is that why you wish to speak to my husband? In hopes that he will leave me and return to Malfoy Manor?"

"I will not speak of personal matters with someone of your status, Ms. Weasley. Now, you have already kindly invited me in. However," he brought his wand up to aim it directly at her chest, "I do not wish to be led to the sitting room. As I do not see your wand on your person, I can only assume that you have foolishly left your wand in the sitting room and were attempting to lure me there. We will wait for my son in the kitchen," he jerked his head toward the left, the opposite direction of the sitting room, where he could clearly see a stove in an adjacent room.

Glaring viciously, but with no other choice with a wand aimed at her, she marched toward the kitchen feeling much more like she was facing the gallows. Again, Rose was panicking. Lux never slept for more than two hours, if she was lucky. Normally it was just an hour and a half. He would be crying long before Scorpius arrived home. Rose needed to get Mr. Malfoy out of the house before he knew of the children.

She silently thanked the wizard gods that she had cleaned the house that morning. There were no toys strewn about. As they always ate in the dining room, Rose didn't even have to worry about him glimpsing a highchair. The only evidence that a child lived in the house was the sippy cup on the counter which she casually knocked into the sink so he wouldn't see it.

There weren't any pictures in the kitchen either. With a sigh of relief, Rose leaned stiffly against the kitchen sink feeling a bit faint. It wasn't uncommon for pregnant women to get dizzy spells and with the added stress, she was fighting to stand up at the moment as all she wanted to do was lie down.

"Tea would be lovely," Draco said as he sat at the small kitchen table where Rose normally sat to drink her afternoon tea. There was a window beside it and Rose hoped fervently that Adara wouldn't come running along that side of the house.

With shaking hands, Rose put the kettle on and braced herself against the counter, feeling like she might be sick. There was a light flutter in her stomach that she knew from experience was the baby moving. She'd felt it occasionally for a couple of days now, and rubbed her hand against her slight bump reassuringly and whispered quietly enough so Draco wouldn't hear, "It's okay, Baby, I'll take care of you."

With renewed strength at the reminder of what she was protecting, Rose flicked open cabinet doors, pulled out mugs for tea, honey, spoons, sugar, and placed it all in front of Draco with pursed lips. "Ah, it's seems you are capable of doing something right," he said grudgingly as he sipped at his tea.

She gave him a stiff nod. "I only wish I had been smart enough to keep poison in the kitchen so I could have slipped it into your cup."

Despite himself, Draco gave a snort of amusement. "Murder is much harder than one might think, Ms. Weasley."

"Do you plan on murdering me?"

Draco said nothing. There was a long uncomfortable silence. The minutes stretched by as Rose stood far away from him, against the counter, and he sat drinking tea, watching her, and occasionally glancing out the window. before she knew it, he'd already been there for almost an hour.

Her feet were aching terribly. They'd already been hurting before he arrived. Pregnancy did that to you, she knew. But she couldn't resist any longer. Moving slowly, she inched to a chair on the opposite end of the small table and sat down across from her father-in-law.

"I never planned on killing you," he offered out of nowhere, "that was my father's plan if Scorpius refused to leave you."

"Oh, how reassuring," she said with faux enthusiasm.

"You don't understand, you filthy little half-blood. Some of us wizards still have standards. Some of us still understand how important blood purity is. Perhaps the Dark Lord went about it the wrong way, but he definitely had the right idea. Imagine someone being born into a muggle home with muggle parents. Growing up never knowing about our society and our world. Then, suddenly, at the age of eleven, thrusting them into the midst of it. They are hardly deserving to study the magical arts."

"Imagine," countered Rose, "a witch or wizard being born to muggle parents. Being raised by muggles. Then one day discovering the truth. Being shunned by wizard society because he or she was not born to wizard parents. That hardly seems fair."

Draco honestly wasn't sure how to reply. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I don't believe it. I simply cannot accept that a witch or wizard is born to muggle parents. How is that even possible? Muggle and wizard are two different species."

"How dare you!" Rose was careful to keep her voice down so she didn't wake the baby, but she wanted so badly to scream the words at him. "We are all humans, Draco! Race doesn't matter. Gender doesn't matter. Why should there be any distinction between muggle and wizard? Also, I have taken the time over the years to read many studies done on muggleborns. Do you know what most scholars agree on? Muggleborns are the result of a latent magical gene. Normally the descendent of a squib. If traced back far enough, I can almost guarantee that somewhere down the line there was a magical ancestor."

"That doesn't change the fact that he or she was raised by muggles. It's unfair, is it not, to be a part of a world that none of your family is a part of? They would never understand you. They might even come to be afraid of you. It seems cruel, doesn't it?" he argued.

"During the war my mother Obliviated her parents. She erased herself from their memories. Changed their names and sent them to a different country to hide them from Voldemort. When she found them over a year later, and restored their memories, they didn't fear her. They didn't hate her. They still loved and accepted her. Perhaps, on occasion, there are some muggles who resent their magical children, but it's far crueler to let a witch or wizard grow up never truly knowing what they are."

At that moment, Rose's heart faltered. Upstairs a baby was crying. Pollux was awake. His loud cry of "Mumumumum!" could be heard clearly by both adults in the kitchen.

Draco Malfoy had never felt such a surge or disgust and hatred in his life. Instantly his rage threatened to boil over. How fucking dare this insignificant wench give birth to a half-blood Malfoy! He would kill it. He would rather kill that crying child upstairs than claim it as his grandchild!

He stood up so quickly that his chair toppled backwards behind him. Rose was frozen in horror for only a split second before she, too, leapt to her feet. "It's not what you think," she said. "I'm just babysitting for the neighbors."

For one glorious moment Draco was inclined to believe her. It was the hope that perhaps his son wasn't as stupid as he thought. Perhaps Scorpius really did have enough pride to keep from impregnating this bint. Then that hope was shattered.

"Mummy?" a little girl came bounding into the kitchen. There was dirt smudged on her cheek but other than that she looked absolutely perfect. Something happened inside Draco Malfoy upon seeing this little girl that was so profound that he nearly dropped his wand. He didn't think that he had ever truly known what love was until now.

He had always wanted a daughter. Astoria knew this but she hadn't wanted any children at all. Draco had only talked her into having Scorpius by convincing her that they needed an heir. He loved Scorpius more than anyone else in the world, but as he inspected his granddaughter, he felt like his heart expanded.

She had platinum silver hair. _His_ hair. And while, yes, she did look just a bit too much like a Weasley for his liking, he couldn't help but be instantly wrapped around her little finger. The girl blinked her large blue eyes at him and even though he was loathe to admit she looked a lot like her mother, there was a lot of Scorpius in her as well. Which meant that when Draco looked at her, he also saw a lot of himself.

Rose was in front of the little girl in a flash, shielding her from Draco's view. "Mummy," the little girl continued, "Lux is crying." So that was why she'd come into the kitchen. Concern for her sibling.

"Don't you look at her! Don't you even fucking look at her!" Rose screamed.

"Move out of the way, Weasley, before I hex you," Draco growled. Rose didn't know what to do. If she wasn't pregnant, she wouldn't move until Draco forced her to against her will. But it was dangerous to be hit with any spell when you were pregnant. Draco could easily cause her to miscarry. Which child did she choose to protect?

"Don't you threaten my mum!" The girl sassed. Without her mother's consent, Adara darted between her legs and stormed up to Draco. With her eyes locked on his face she said, "You look like my dad. Except your eyes are grey. And you're old."

In the most dignified way he could, he replied, "I am _not _old."

"You're older than my daddy. You frown a lot, did you know that? My daddy smiles all the time. Why aren't you smiling? Are you sad?"

"Insufferable," he muttered. "You must get that from the Weasleys."

"Excuse me, I asked if you were sad."

"Yes, I am a bit sad. I'm also angry and confused."

"Why?"

As they spoke, Rose stood frozen in shock. Draco had lowered his wand and was now speaking to Adara as if Rose wasn't even there. "Because your daddy is my son and I haven't seen him in a very long time."

"Do you miss him?"

"Yes, I do."

"He's at work right now. You can wait here for him if you want. I like your wand. What's in it? My daddy's wand has a unicorn hair in it and Mummy's has a dragon heartstring."

"My wand has a unicorn hair core, like your father's," was his short reply.

"What's your name? I'm Adara, but you can call me Addie."

Draco smiled at her. When Astoria was pregnant that was one of the names he was considering for Scorpius if he had been a girl. Of course he was partial to his other name choice, Gemini. "It's nice to meet you, Adara," the name rolled off of his tongue sweetly. "I'm Draco."

Adara's blue eyes widened comically. "You're Draco?"

"You've heard of me?"

"Run!" Adara shouted, "Run, Mummy! It's Draco!" the poor little girl sounded on the verge of tears. "He's the one that Daddy said wanted to ki-kill you!" She threw herself toward her mother, grasped hold of her hand and tried to pull Rose from the room.

"Addie," said Rose softly, "go upstairs and take care of your brother, okay? Pollux is still crying. Give him his teddy bear and sing him his favorite lullaby, okay?"

Tears were rolling silently down Adara's pale perfect cheeks but she nodded and scampered out of sight. "Scorpius told you that I intended to kill you?"

"Not exactly. He mentioned that his family would kill me if they found us and he has mentioned all of your names at some point or another. Our daughter is rather intelligent and it seems she's put a few things together."

"So it would seem," he was looking down at his wand, fingering it lightly.

"If you're going to kill me," her voice shook only slightly, "please don't kill the children. You can - you can claim they're pureblood if you want," she pleaded desperately. "You can say that Scorpius had an affair with some pureblood witch and that Adara and Pollux are the results. But please, please Draco, don't kill them. They're only children. Scorpius loves them so much."

They stood staring at each other for a few moments longer before Draco said, "Go get your son. I would like to see him."

Taking the opportunity, Rose exited the kitchen. When she rounded the corner, she sprinted for the sitting room instead of the going to the stairs. Her wand!

The moment her hand wrapped around the familiar thin piece of wood, she gave it a sharp flick and her silvery Patronus flew out the window before it could even take a proper form.

Draco came sprinting into the room and they stood several feet apart, both of their wands raised, glaring at each other. Rose knew that she was no match for Draco Malfoy. She hadn't used any defensive spells in years and he was an accomplished wizard who'd fought in many battles, even if he had been on the wrong side of them.

But she had to try. Her children were upstairs, Scorpius was hopefully on his way the moment he received her Patronus, and maybe she could manage to hold Draco off long enough for Scorpius to reach them.

"You don't have to do this," said Rose. "You can leave right now and never come back. You've already seen that your son has a life here and a family. It's too late to convince him to live his life the way you wanted him to."

"All you have to do, Weasley, is lower your wand. I've already told you that I have no plans to kill you. The only things I have asked for are to speak with my son and see my grandchildren. Are you really going to duel me over such innocent requests?"

"You can't lie to me, Draco. I saw the look on your face when Pollux started crying. You might not plan to kill me, but I could see in your eyes your desire to cause harm to my children, and I won't let you."

At the exact same moment, spells were shot from both of their wands.

…

Scorpius Malfoy was sitting at his desk hunched over a stack of papers. He gave a yawn and scratched his head before gazing out the window. It was a beautiful day and he wanted nothing more than to finish this work and be home with his family. He could take them to the park. Pollux was just at that age where we enjoyed swinging in the baby swing on the swing set.

A ball of silver zoomed into his office at that moment and stopped on top of his desk. It took the form of a dove as it spoke. One simple little word. "Help!"

Always having his wand with him, Scorpius extracted it from inside his suit coat, spun on the spot, and Disapparated.

He landed on his front lawn. From outside the home, it looked like nothing was amiss. Unfortunately, Scorpius knew better. He rushed in and could hear Pollux crying upstairs. Then another angry voice shouted, "Let me in, damn it!"

That voice sent Scorpius into panic mode. He sprinted up the stairs, skipping two at a time until he reached the landing. Down the hall he saw his father shooting spell after spell repeatedly at Pollux's bedroom door, but it wouldn't budge.

Relief washed through Scorpius. Rose must have barricaded herself and the children in that room. Scorpius had the advantage as Draco still hadn't noticed his arrival. "_Stupefy!"_

Draco was knocked sideways from the force of the spell, his wand flying out of his hand, and lay motionless on the floor. Stepping quickly over his father's unconscious form, Scorpius tapped lightly on the door and said, "Rose? It's me, let me in, love."

Tentatively the door swung open. Adara was huddled in the corner of the room holding Pollux tightly as the infant screamed. "Daddy!" Adara beamed up at him as Scorpius scooped his children into his arms.

"Where's your mum?" he asked.

"I don't know. They fought – Mummy and Dr-Draco. Downstairs. I heard them. Then Draco came up here and tried getting in."

Now being held by his father, Pollux was much more content and had stopped crying. With both of his children held tightly against his person with one arm, Scorpius strode back into the hallway and bound his father from chest to toes in tight cords. Only then did he whisper, "_Ennervate._"

Draco's eyes sprung open but before he had the chance to even take in his surroundings, Scorpius growled, "Where is she? Where's Rose?"

"Sitting room."

With his father trailing behind him, levitating magically a few inches off the ground, Scorpius bounded down the stairs to find his wife lying unconscious in a completely wrecked sitting room. Everything in there was destroyed.

"She's only stunned," drawled Draco. "She put up a hell of a fight though."

Scorpius knelt beside her. "_Ennervate_." Nothing happened. He said it again, with more force, but still there was no response.

With panic setting in, Draco was quick to snap, "I swear, I only stupefied her."

Scorpius's complexion paled as realization set in. He whipped around and hissed venomously, "She's pregnant, you bastard!"

"I-I didn't know. I swear, Scorpius, she didn't tell me!"

"Of course she didn't!" he roared, "If she had, you would have killed her! Don't think that I don't know what you would have done, Father! I can imagine just how much shame and disgust you feel knowing that I had children with someone like Rose. Someone with her parentage! Fucking hell, I need to get her to St. Mungo's…" he wrapped one arm around her slim frame, his hand resting very gently on her slight bump, and Apparated his family to St Mungo's, leaving his father behind.


	5. What Friends are For

**A/N: Normally I apologize for short chapters, but this one is so full of fun things for you all that I don't think you'll be disappointed despite the fact that it's about 1,000 or so words shorter than I like my chapters to be. **

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.**

**WARNING: Language in this chapter.**

…

The receptionist behind the desk looked up to see the face of Scorpius Malfoy staring back at her, holding two squirming children, and an unconscious Rose Weasley. The receptionist had seen both of their faces in the papers for years.

"My wife is pregnant," he said in a clipped tone. "She was Stunned and won't wake."

"I'll get a Healer," she said.

"If you tell anyone, _anyone_ that you saw us here today, I promise to make your life a living hell. I know that there are laws about patient confidentiality but I also know a lot of big-mouthed gossips."

"I-I understand, Mr. Malfoy."

….

Molly Weasley was leaning against the wall while looking over a few medical charts. It looked like Mrs. Jones could be released today. However, whatever bit Mr. Vane must have been venomous.

"Healer Weasley!" she looked up to see her superior walking toward her briskly. She straightened up and gazed at him expectantly. "A woman was just admitted to your ward, room 414. She was stupefied and she's pregnant."

"Oh, Merlin," Molly groaned, "I'm on my way!" and she began to run. It wasn't, technically, very dangerous for a pregnant woman to be Stupefied depending on many factors. How far along she was, if she hit anything when she fell, how long she'd been unconscious. But it was still risky.

When she reached room 414 she noted briefly that whoever it was must be very rich. Patients were hardly ever admitted to room 414 as it was an extravagant private room.

The first thing she saw upon entering was fiery red hair and her heart dropped to her stomach. Several of her family members had red hair; Lily, Roxy, Dom, Lucy…but none of them were pregnant that she knew of.

Then her eyes rested on the woman's face. Rose. All of the breath left her lungs as she stood frozen at the foot of the hospital bed. "Molly," a voice spoke from the other side of the room and she spun around to face it.

Scorpius Malfoy sat in a chair with two children asleep on his lap, leaning against his chest. "Please," he said, nodding his head toward Rose.

As Molly worked, whispering spells over Rose's body, monitoring her vitals, she fired questions at Scorpius. "How long has she been unconscious?"

"About an hour, I think."

"How far along is she in her pregnancy?"

"Around fifteen weeks."

"Do you know if she hit her head or abdomen when she fell?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think so."

"Did any other spells hit her before or after she was Stupefied?"

"Not that I know of."

She worked silently after that. Her mind racing with all of this information. For the past five bloody years she had hated Scorpius Malfoy. She knew nothing of his secret relationship with Rose until after they'd run away together.

And they had been best friends! Rose and Molly were as close as it was possible for two friends to be and yet Rose had left without ever telling her best friend the truth.

Now Malfoy sat just behind her, the arrogant wanker, begging her to save his – his what? His wife? His girlfriend? And his unborn child.

"She's going to be alright," said Molly at last with a sigh of relief. "She's stable and everything looks good, but I don't think she'll be waking up any time soon. It might be as long as a couple of days before she's conscious."

"Days?" Scorpius asked, sounding strained.

"It's her body's natural way of defending itself and healing. Until then she needs to stay here so we can monitor everything and make sure she's healing normally."

"And the baby?"

"Just fine. There was no permanent damage to the mother or the child."

"Thank God," he whispered not to Molly, but to himself. She watched as he pressed a kiss to the foreheads of each of the sleeping children.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Scorpius, but I'm going to need to ask you some routine questions. This is grounds for an inspection into spousal abuse."

He glared at her, "I would never hurt her."

"Then what happened?" Molly pulled a notebook and quill from her Healer robes and the quill began scribbling notes down as Scorpius spoke.

"I'm not even entirely sure. I was at work when her Patronus came soaring in. All it said was 'help!' I went home to find my father trying to break down my son's bedroom door. I stunned him and entered the room myself to find my son and daughter, but Rose wasn't there. I restrained my father, woke him up, and he told me that he had stupefied Rose. I rushed to the sitting room and found her body there. I immediately Apparated us here."

"I believe you," said Molly, and she did. "But if what you're saying is true then we need to alert the Aurors. They need to go to your house, retrieve Mr. Malfoy, and bring him in for questioning."

"No," Scorpius growled. "I forbid you from contacting the Aurors!"

"But….why? Surely you don't want him to get away with this?"

"Of course I don't," he sighed and leaned his head back, resting it against the wall behind him. "I don't have any other choice. Harry fucking Potter is the Head of the Auror Office and he's Rose's uncle. Several of her other family members work there as well. We've been trying so fucking hard to stay hidden these past five years. I can't let them find us now."

"Scorpius, I'm Rose's cousin, you know," she stated unnecessarily. Of course Scorpius knew this. Aside from the fact that they had gone to school together, and she was Rose's best friend, she was also the cousin who most resembled Rose. They had both inherited the Weasley blue eyes and even though most of their cousins had red hair, only Molly's was as curly as Rose's.

"But you can't say a damn thing," he said this tiredly. "If you do, I can and will press charges against the hospital. I will get you fired before you can say, 'Quidditch.'"

"Scorpius Malfoy! Rose's family – her parents, her brother, her grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, we've all been worried sick about her for five bloody years! Now she shows up, at the hospital, stupefied, pregnant, and you are just going to crawl back into whatever hole you crawled out of without so much as an explanation to the people that love her?"

"Love her?" he snarled, "Don't you dare speak to me as if any of you love her! When she tried to talk to her parents about me, about dating me, they threatened to fucking _Oblivitate_ her if she didn't stay away from me."

"I didn't know that."

"No, you don't, so shut the fuck up about things that you have no fucking idea about."

"Your daughter…how old is she?"

"Her name is Adara, and she's turning five in a few weeks."

"So when you left, Rose was…" Molly trailed off, her cheeks blushing red at what she was implying.

"Yes, Rose was pregnant when we ran away. But don't ask me anymore questions about it, Weasley, if you're so bloody curious about our life then you can ask Rose when she wakes up."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Molly asked, "You said that Draco couldn't get into the bedroom where your children were hiding. Did you have wards on it?"

"No, at the time I assumed Rose was in the room with the children and had set up the wards herself."

"But if Rose was stupefied, who set up the wards?"

"I have a guess," Scorpius gently nudged his daughter and Adara blinked up at him. "Sweetheart, why couldn't Draco get into Pollux's bedroom when you were hiding in there?"

"I didn't want him to," she whispered, not having even noticed that Molly was in the room. "I didn't want him to get in, so the door wouldn't let him in."

"That's extraordinary magic for a five year old child," Molly whispered.

"She's Rose's daughter," Scorpius said with a smile, "What did you expect?"

"Your arms must be tired, would you like me to take them to the hospital day care room?" Molly asked as she watched the little girl fall quickly back asleep.

"Absolutely not. I will not let these children out of my sight. Ever again."

"I promise they'll be safe. If you'd like, I'll even stay and watch over them myself. I am off of work now, actually, so it wouldn't be a problem."

"No," he said again, firmer this time. "But I am sure they're both hungry. Would it be at all possible to have some food brought up for them? Lux is only a year old, so he still eats mostly baby food, but he can have some solid things as he has plenty of teeth."

"Why don't you just take them to the cafeteria? You look like you could use some food yourself."

"I just told you, Weasley, I'm not letting my family out of my sight. I am staying with Rose until she's awake and Addie and Lux are staying with me."

"Then I'll bring you all some food."

….

Molly stayed at the hospital long enough to watch Scorpius feed Pollux while Adara ate a good sized meal. The little girl was very talkative and told Molly all about her favorite toys, things she liked to eat, how she loved magic couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts like her mum and dad promised she could when she was older.

Then she watched as Scorpius sung quiet lullabies to Pollux, lulling him back to sleep, and putting him in the crib the hospital had provided for the room.

After that she made her exit. When she arrived at her flat she was unsurprised to hear music playing and find candles lit throughout the small place. It seemed Lorcan hadn't forgotten their anniversary after all.

They had been dating now for four and a half years and had been engaged for six months. The wedding was now only four months away and Molly's only wish had been that Rose could be there to be her maid of honor. Would it be unreasonable to hope that maybe, just maybe, that dream could still come true?

"Hullo, Darling," Lorcan gave her a chaste kiss on the lips before helping her out of her cloak and ushering her to the kitchen where he'd made dinner. "How was your day?"

"Don't ask," she grumbled.

"That bad?" he frowned in sympathy. "You need to just tell them that you feel overworked lately. Fletcher will understand. I know the hospital is a little short staffed, but they can't keep working you like this-"

"It's not about my job, Lorcan. It's about one of my patients. I am bound by contract to not reveal the identity of any of my patients, but a part of me feels like I need to. I just don't know what to do."

"Talk to me, Mols," he said as he poured her a glass of wine. "What's going on with this patient?"

Knowing that she could trust Lorcan with everything, she told him, "It's Rose. My patient is _Rose_. She showed up at the hospital today, injured, and I was assigned to her. I'm the only Healer with access to her so nobody knows she's there except the receptionist and myself. Even now, Scorpius has paid for such privacy that no Healer is allowed into their room unless it's me."

"She's still with Scorpius then?"

"You sound shockingly calm about this, Lor."

"Well, I'm not that surprised to be honest. Rose and Scorpius ran away together. That wasn't even a shock to me as I'd seen for years the way they were looking at each other. If they didn't want to be found, then they wouldn't be. I knew they'd have to resurface eventually, of course. One cannot be a witch or wizard and live exclusively in the muggle world. They would, at some point, require wizard medical assistance, or certain potions, a new wand…if they ever had children they would have to attend Hogwarts."

"So what you're saying is that you knew, these past five years, that at some point we would inevitably find Rose and you never told me?"

"I thought you knew. I thought it was obvious. They might have been able to escape the wizard world, they might have been able to escape their families, but they can't escape who and what they are, Molly."

"That's true. But I still don't know what I'm meant to do, Lorcan! Do I let her disappear again or do I tell the family that I finally found her?"

"What will happen if you tell them?"

"Scorpius said he would sue the hospital," she gazed down at her plate of untouched food as she spoke. "He said that he would make sure I was fired and he would take Mungo's for every cent they had."

"He wouldn't," Lorcan said firmly. "You forget, Mols, I was a Slytherin. Scorpius and I shared a dormitory for seven years. Another reason I was unsurprised when he and Rose ran away. He was one of my best friends and I knew he didn't harbor the same views and prejudices as his family. He's a good guy and he's way more bark than bite."

"You didn't see him today. He looked like he'd happily kill anyone who threatened to hurt Rose, whether it was emotionally or physically. And if I tell my family, then I will be emotionally hurting my best friend."

"It's your decision, dear, but what I think it really boils down to is, where do your loyalties lie? With St. Mungo's, or with your family?"

"Job or family, is that what you're saying? When you put it like that it's so obvious. I'm not going to make the same mistake that my father made. I will never choose work over the people who love and care about me. I'm going to tell my family, will you come with me?"

"I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Excitedly, Lorcan extinguished all of the candles with a single jab or his wand and the next moment they were at the Burrow. Everyone in the family was gathered there. The entire family had dinner at the Burrow every Saturday night. The only reason Molly and Lorcan hadn't been there was because they planned on privately celebrating their anniversary.

"Molly! Lorcan! We didn't expect to see either of you until tomorrow!" James clapped them both on the back as they approached the tables that had been set up outside where everyone was eating.

"We don't plan on staying to eat," said Molly.

"Is everything okay, Mols? You sound upset," James asked with sincere concern as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, no everything is not okay. I need to talk to everyone."

A few people heard her, but she had said this quietly, only to James. He nodded in understanding and yelled. "Oi! You lot! Listen up! Molly has something important to say!"

Every head turned to stare at Molly and the words caught in her throat. All of the people she loved and trusted were giving her their undivided attention and she felt deep down like perhaps she was betraying Rose.

But it was too late to turn back now. "I have something to say. But nobody is allowed to leave until I finish my story. When I tell you what happened to me today, most of you are going to want to get up and leave, but if you do, _I will lose my job_. You cannot fathom the possible repercussions of what I'm doing. So please, for my sake, if you love me at all, let me say everything before you rush into action."

All around there were nods and words of consent. Her parents, Percy and Audrey, were looking at her with worry so evident in their features that Molly rushed ahead with her story to keep them from becoming too panicked.

"I was at work today when I was informed that I had a new patient admitted to my ward. I was surprised because the patient was in a room that's rarely occupied. It's the most expensive and exclusive room in the entire hospital. I rushed to help the patient, because her situation was rather serious. You can imagine my shock when I opened the door to find that it was Rose lying in the hospital bed."

There was an immediate uproar. Her uncle Ron was on his feet, her aunt Hermione was trying to tug him back down into his chair, everyone was murmuring and people were shouting questions at her. She held up her hand for them to be quiet. Once there was silence, she continued.

"As many of you asked, yes, Scorpius Malfoy was with her. It seems that Draco Malfoy somehow found where his son and Rose were hiding. He arrived at their place of residence while Scorpius was at work and Rose was at home. He stunned her and when Scorpius found her, she wouldn't wake so he rushed her to the hospital."

This time, there was only one question, and it was repeated by several people, "Why wouldn't she wake up?"

"Rose is…she's pregnant. You know the complications with performing spells on pregnant women. She's fine! Don't worry, I triple-checked everything before I left Mungo's, and I promise that Rose is just fine." Molly was yelling overtop of her family's talk.

As soon as they heard that she was pregnant, there weren't quiet whispers or murmurs, but loud and outraged cries. "Please!" she screamed, "Calm down! I'm not finished speaking yet!"

"QUIET!" It was her Grandma Molly who was standing and glaring at everyone to shut up. At her command, everyone else closed their mouths and Molly had their attention again.

"Scorpius wasn't alone when he brought Rose to the hospital. With him he had two children. His and Rose's children. Adara Jean Malfoy and Pollux Ronald Malfoy. The baby that Rose is pregnant with will be their third child. They have a life together. They have a family. You didn't see what I saw! None of you did! Scorpius was beside himself with worry! He refused to leave Rose's side and wouldn't let Adara or Pollux out of his sight. You lot can think whatever you want. You can be as biased and as unreasonable as it's possible to be, but you _weren't there _and you have no idea how much Scorpius Malfoy obviously loves his wife!"

"And," Lorcan prodded gently. "Molly is bound by law and contract to not speak of her patients. She is breaking the law and her contract to St. Mungo's by telling you all this. Scorpius made it very clear that if she told you anything he would sue the hospital and make sure she was fired."

"But then, what are we supposed to do?" it was Hermione who asked this, worry mixed with relief mixed with uninhibited joy was etched on her features. She and Ron hadn't told anyone about finding Rose. They talked about their visit to the Malfoy home only with Albus and Lily, keeping it a secret between the four of them.

"I have an idea. It might not work, but it's all I can think of. Rose will be in the hospital for a few more days. When she wakes up, I can talk with her, reason with her. I can convince her that Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione aren't going to try to separate her from Scorpius and maybe she'll come home of her own accord."

"What if she won't?" it wasn't until he spoke that everyone realized Ron was crying. "What if I've been so horrible to her that she will refuse forever to see us again? What if I never get the chance to tell her I'm sorry?"

"If she refuses to come home even after I talk with her, then I'll make her. Don't worry, Uncle Ron, I won't let her leave our lives again."

Right at that moment, an owl came swooping down and landed on Lorcan's shoulder. The big barn owl gave a low hoot before extending his leg. "Clever bird," Lorcan cooed as he took the letter. "How did you know I was here?"

As soon as the bird had been relieved of his delivery, he took off back into the sky. Lorcan read the letter through twice before looking up at Molly and saying quietly, "It appears that we are needed at St. Mungo's."

…..

As Scorpius Malfoy watched over his family he knew that he had to do something. It had been three hours since he left his father bound from head to foot suspended magically in his sitting room.

He would have to handle this situation without involving the Aurors while also keeping his family safely out of the way. To do that he would have to leave his family here, at the hospital. But he didn't trust anyone to watch them in his stead. He also really could use some help dealing with his father, but again, he couldn't think of anyone to ask.

Lorcan. Lorcan Scamander was his best mate. Even though it had been five years since they'd last spoken he knew that he could trust Lorcan. The only reason that Rose and Scorpius had cut ties with _everyone_ in the wizard world is because they weren't sure how well people could keep secrets. For instance, if Rose had kept in contact with her brother, Hugo, how long would he be able to sit back and watch his parents search for her before he broke down and told them where she was? No, it was best that they made a clean break.

Thinking again about Lorcan, he knew that he missed his best friend very much. Now the question was, did he ask Lorcan to stay and watch over his family or accompany him in dealing with his father? He would need another person to help. Rose's best friend had been her cousin Molly. For years Rose had battled over the issue of telling Molly about Scorpius or not. Not to mention Molly already knew that Rose was here and it was best to keep as few people involved as possible.

Yes, as much as he despised leaving his family even for such a short period of time, he had to take care of his father right away.

_Lorcan,_

_I know it has been a long time and you might hate me for what I've done. Please know that I never wanted to keep secrets from you, but it was necessary at the time. I can only hope that this letter reaches you in good health and that you are willing and able to help me, because I need your help, mate. I am at St. Mungo's, but don't worry, I'm fine. I need your assistance in dealing with a very private and important matter. If you are willing to help, please get here as soon as you can. Also, track down Molly Weasley and see if you can please somehow convince her to come with you as well. _

_Scorpius Malfoy_

He nodded in approval at his hastily penned letter and sent it off with the owl that the room came with. Now he had nothing to do except wait and hope that his friendship with Lorcan was as strong as he always believed it to be.


End file.
